Rouge

by Adrian De Leon

Toronto the not-so-good? This series of poems is a response to the 2012 Danzig Street mass shooting at a block party in Toronto's Scarborough area, during a period when gun violence had reached a peak in the city. Here the city's east end becomes a source of poetic inspiration, and the east-west subway line as the organizing structure. Going from west to east, each poem is informed by a TTC subway stop, inspiring form, voice and content. We get meditations, commentary, and visual poetry. The conclusion is a pair of poems, both titled "Rouge": the first makes use of reports, songs, and tweets that appeared following the shooting and the second is a lyrical response.

Genres: Poetry, Canada

96 pages, Paperback

Published October 26, 2018

Reviews

[Emmkay]

There’s a poem for each subway station in Toronto, some of them found or concrete poems. I found a handful of them quite beautiful, others were more geared to insiders or a bit flip - sometimes I got the references (and sometimes not), but thought it might not have communicated successfully outside a relatively small group. Which is fine, no reason why a poet can’t choose to communicate to a small circle in the know if they wish, but not what I had been hoping for.

[Shan · Rating 4 out of 5]

I mean, everyone who has rides the TTC subway needs to read this collection. The poems "Islington" and "Bayview" will have every rider letting out a giant and knowing laugh. But there's a heart and soul of the city embedded in these poems that will also speak to all Torontonians and people beyond the city. Anyone who rides the subway knows the way the city can be divided, the ways in which we think of other parts of the city. Adrian De Leon captures this along with the beauty and pain of this large city.

[The Master · Rating 4 out of 5]

Best one is Dundas. A hundred years from now, no one will get it. Maybe ten.

[Lara · Rating 4 out of 5]

"506 Bathurst, 506 Bathurst, 506 Bathurst, Please call control."

"Down and dirty. Really dirty. Need a mop or rag or funding or people or something... Only five steps into Sherbourne and I'm not impressed. Huh? Wow, this guy. Bro, we ain't in Kansas anymore. Or Bay. This is east now. East. Where the cows come home. You know, because they milk us for votes or something. Not a goddamn nice station in sight. Okay, maybe Pape... Mans need to hurry up with construction and shit doe."

[Nicky Enriquez · Rating 5 out of 5]

Adrian De Leon is such a talented writer and poet. His ingenious idea of using the TTC as mileposts for his poems makes the reader feel the soul of the station area. In response to Danzig street shooting, Adrian captures the sentiment of the people, and his own personal experiences lyrically.

[Reena Tabing · Rating 2 out of 5]

Meh