ELEVENTH HOUR LITERARY

TORONTO SUMMER

Close-up of a vintage red convertible car interior featuring a classic steering wheel and dashboard.
Photo by RITESH SINGH from Pexels

the world was young

you could drive your convertible to Toronto

east along the shore of Lake Ontario

destination a handful of indie motels

open directly to a wide beach

choose yours, The Queen Anne

love could be anywhere

one of three girls in plastic chairs

or this one girl draping a blanket curiously near yours

maybe it’s your radio, playing the best rock

and after dark

you can drive downtown to the Poetry District

attend an enduring series on a second floor

or take a stage with musicians in a bar

rubbing shoulders with poetry blokes

be careful, they’re sensitive

amid the bare midriffs and fabulous beers

notice an upset pile of saddle-stapled periodicals

take one home

one day Ian will publish your poem

Chuck Joy, based across slender Lake Erie from Ontario in Erie, Pennsylvania, where he was county poet laureate from 2018-21, and well before those years, enjoyed a fabulous era with more than a few visits to Toronto, bringing his lines to many stages. His current collection of original poetry, called White and Blue, is available at MainStreetRagBookstore.org. More about his work is available at www.chuckjoy.com.