A beautiful stranger smiled at me and I immediately got suspicious…

I looked over my shoulder to see who else it could be that she was looking at while simultaneously checking with my right hand to see if my wallet were still in place.

I walked away not daring to look back… the moment was gone and at the very least; one of us was exposed.

Dennis Mantin

The optimist says she’s healing.

The pessimist says she’s sick.

It’s all the same sick feeling.

A mind over matter parlor trick.

I have reached a point in life where I value my opinion above most others.

In any large decision I ask 3 people there opinion before I act.

If I am asking you for your opinion understand I respect you.

We were dreaming of a future.

Where something better came along.

When we could guide the children.

Where we could be that strong.

We were dreaming of a future.

And the future it is here.

And we are all so happy now.

There was so much crap to clear.

We were up against those forces.

In a post Thanos multiverse.

All the heroes, they now know.

To carry makeup in their purse.

Now that that’s been settled.

No more God or faith no more.

Our leaders are busy leading.

No more questions or out the door.

Jason sits at Queen at Jameson, his head bowed slightly taking stock of the trinkets that sit on the sidewalk beside him. He’s been here for decades now.

You usually hear him throat scream before you see him and most that hear that pain walk around him to avoid what ever it is that Jason offers.

The trinkets and toys are from a child long gone or grown… I can’t be sure except this was Jason’s child when he was younger and living on the east coast.

Whenever I think I’m having a bad day or that the lawyer bills for my child’s custody and safety are too much… it’s Jason who provides me with perspectives.

Better to teach children about boundaries early on… rather than later, looking through plexiglass, asking for canteen money.

Dennis Mantin

I don’t know what it is, however… Whenever I read Bukowski… I want to write.

Maybe it’s one alcoholic speaking to another, I don’t know. A safe place for a sober, dare I say recovered alcoholic; hearing tales from a dead man?

No, it’s the courage that I lacked when I was down the rabbit hole that he possessed. To be so honest in and about his addictions, maybe that’s the identification that happens?

She said that Canada 🇨🇦 is a tricky land. Filled with tricksters and dishonest types.

“Filled?”

I am sometimes unsure if my questions take audible flight or if they remain stuck in my head behind an expression of suspended disbelief…

She continued. “Abusive people who stole the land from the aboriginals.”

I was reminded of a sentence in ‘Heart of Darkness’ “They were conquerors. Not much to brag about really when everything you have has been stolen from the weakness of others.”

“Yes… this is our collective human history. Don’t stare too long into that abyss; for you may become the monster my dear.”

I am tired of these humans.

I have had enough of me.

Technology replacements?

Oh AI, you wait and see!

They are waiting at horizon.

Just beyond your sense of smell.

With no talk of God or plans.

I trust you’re doing well?

Dennis Mantin

The questions they are many.

The answers are so few.

I couldn’t think of any.

Dad why’s the sky so blue.

I decided just to listen.

The breathe that sound within.

No need to make decision.

The finish line read begin.

It’s clear now see the circle

Spiraling round and round.

That sky now sure looks purple.

Nothing lost and nothing found.

We will keep on looking.

Cause that is what we do.

The end the final booking.

The mystery is the clue.