Kingston Road in the 1980’s by Patrick Connors

September 5, 2023
Poem title: Kingston Road in the 1980’s Poet name: Patrick Connors Poem: Three slices of moist bread cut diagonally layers of bacon, lettuce, and tomato – this is when they put mayonnaise on a BLT, or at least Miracle Whip. French fries scooped out of a plastic tub always cooked a little less or a little more than you would have preferred, topped with pepper and salt and saltier gravy. A can of lukewarm Coca Cola foaming over the rim of a parfait glass filled with so much ice it took at least three pours to drink it all. Or a cup of coffee, the third one of the day– the equalizer, the source of fake energy, which sat in the pot for over two hours– and needed three teaspoons of sugar. Mini jukeboxes within an arms length asked only for the quarters you didn’t spend at the video arcade, so you could play a song and tell your friend it was your favourite. End of poem. Credits and bio: Copyright © Patrick Connors Previously published in Devour, Art & Lit Canada, (Issue 15, Winter 2022-23). Patrick Connors first chapbook, Scarborough Songs, was released by Lyricalmyrical Press in 2013, and charted on the Toronto Poetry Map. He contributed 18 poems to Bottom of the Wine Jar, published in 2017 by SandCrab Press, and launched in Gibara, Cuba.He has had work printed in Belgium, India, and the United Kingdom, in addition to the United States and Canada. Past publication credits include: Blue Collar Review; The Toronto Quarterly 4; Spadina Literary Review; Tamaracks; and Tending the Fire, released in spring 2020 by the League of Canadian Poets. Recent publication credits include: Poetry and Covid; Devour; Lummox 9 Anthology; Canadian Stories; Harbinger Asylum; Silver Birch Press; and Poetry Pause. He has performed at the Austin International Poetry Festival; featured in numerous reading series such as The Art Bar, Wild Writers, and Plasticine Poetry; hosted events under the 100,000 Poets for Change banner, as well as the United May Day Committee; and was on the organizing committee for The Great Canadian PoeTrain Tour. His first full collection, The Other Life, is available from Mosaic Press. His newest chapbook, Worth the Wait, was released this spring by Cactus Press.