<\/p>\n
Things to do Around Toronto When You\u2019re Black after Gary Snyder<\/em> <\/p>\n <\/p>\n Nancy Jo Cullen<\/strong> on \u201cThings to Do Around Toronto When You\u2019re Black\u201d<\/p>\n Michael Fraser riffs on Gary Snyder\u2019s things to do poems in \u201cThings to Do Around Toronto When You\u2019re Black.\u201d As in Snyder\u2019s poems, Fraser reveals the character of the place through the actions and travels of the speaker. But the simple observations and easy nature of Snyder\u2019s \u201cThings to Do\u201d poems are problematized by the reality of being Black in a white-dominant culture. In this poem the reader is reminded that Black people must always consider their racial identity and the potential perils of whatever the situation they find themselves in, even a quiet stroll down Toronto\u2019s Philosopher\u2019s Walk.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n Michael Fraser<\/strong> has been published in numerous national and international anthologies and journals. He is published in Best Canadian Poetry in English<\/em> 2013 and 2018. He has won numerous awards, including Freefall Magazine\u2019<\/em>s 2014 and 2015 poetry contests, the 2016 CBC Poetry Prize, and the 2018 Gwendolyn Macewen Poetry Competition.<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" \u201cThings To Do Around Toronto When You\u2019re Black\u201d by Michael Fraser<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":3411,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_seopress_robots_primary_cat":"","_seopress_titles_title":"","_seopress_titles_desc":"","_seopress_robots_index":"","_relevanssi_hide_post":"","_relevanssi_hide_content":"","_relevanssi_pin_for_all":"","_relevanssi_pin_keywords":"","_relevanssi_unpin_keywords":"","_relevanssi_related_keywords":"","_relevanssi_related_include_ids":"","_relevanssi_related_exclude_ids":"","_relevanssi_related_no_append":"","_relevanssi_related_not_related":"","_relevanssi_related_posts":"16965,11010,10603,16394","_relevanssi_noindex_reason":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[1792,2207],"tags":[],"genre":[150],"publisher":[],"issue":[],"poet-in-residence":[],"series":[3148,3265,3266],"topic":[],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/arcpoetry.ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10875"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/arcpoetry.ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/arcpoetry.ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/arcpoetry.ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/arcpoetry.ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=10875"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/arcpoetry.ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10875\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/arcpoetry.ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/3411"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/arcpoetry.ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=10875"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/arcpoetry.ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=10875"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/arcpoetry.ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=10875"},{"taxonomy":"genre","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/arcpoetry.ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/genre?post=10875"},{"taxonomy":"publisher","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/arcpoetry.ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/publisher?post=10875"},{"taxonomy":"issue","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/arcpoetry.ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/issue?post=10875"},{"taxonomy":"poet-in-residence","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/arcpoetry.ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/poet-in-residence?post=10875"},{"taxonomy":"series","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/arcpoetry.ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/series?post=10875"},{"taxonomy":"topic","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/arcpoetry.ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/topic?post=10875"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
<\/em>This is where you invite the reader in, showing
wherever you step, clothing is your first language.
Sport the teal blazer so people will nod when
asking directions, and gift shop employees
will refrain from being your personal static cling.
Remember, you are not you, but a race.
Stroll down Philosopher\u2019s Walk reviewing your mind,
and how it will one day abandon you.
Feel Taddle Creek\u2019s underflow twitch the footpath.
Everything about your stride is almost summer.
Jump up during Caribana, catch how bass cracks
open the air it inhabits.
See Sorauren Park\u2019s lit jack-o-lantern parade as the city
slides into November, throws fall through the air,
turns lives back an hour, then departs into photos.
If you\u2019re pulled over, put CBC Radio on,
hopefully, an astrophysicist is riffing M-theory.
Your whole life has been a parallel universe
so you\u2019ll be able to opine. Mention supergravity<\/em>,
and you\u2019re on your way.
If you come in winter, rewire the cold with smiles,
your frosted breath hinting at the cloud-braided sky.
See how the harbour thins ice buckling along
Centre Island shores, the ferry a pen writing in water.
Picture the CN Tower and Roger\u2019s Center
as an item. The two of them dating for years.
Keep your mind off symbolism as the dome\u2019s
petals open like a white lotus.
Sky-dine at the 360 Restaurant as creation rotates
around you. Stretch your hand across the lake,
tug the horizon, and pull America in.
<\/p>\n\n
\n
\n