Description
In October 2016 Peter Jickling left the Yukon to write in Toronto. His resulting poems document subjects ranging from subletting to subways - illuminating quiet moments amidst noise. Sometimes sad, often funny, and always humane, Downtown Flirt is an outsider's account of urban life.
About the author
Peter Jickling grew up in Whitehorse, Yukon and received an honours degree in philosophy from the University of Lethbridge in 2005. He became Associate Editor of Up Here Magazine in 2011. That same year, his first play, Syphilis: A Love Story, was produced in Whitehorse by Ramshackle Theatre and subsequently toured western Canada, winning Best Comedy at the Victoria Fringe Festival. Later, he edited What's Up Yukon, where he wrote a weekly column, "Jickling's Jabberings." In winter 2016 he went to Toronto to write. This resulted in Downtown Flirt.
Excerpt: Downtown Flirt (by (author) Peter Jickling)
Off-whiteCity stimulus tweaks me.In Toronto, as in Montreal,I become surer of myself --a northern mouse aping urban wherewithal.But there's mania in my swaggerand hyperactivity on credit is a dangerous indulgence.So I devote days - and hours within days - to self-care.I read, watch movies, drink water, breathe deeply.I survey my sublet in plaid pajamas and striped sweater.Once, eating Chinese in the Dufferin Mall food court,the noise and the neon came like errand boys to collect their bill --The hordes! The hordes!I limped nestward and stared at the ceiling.Off-white.Perfect.