The chaos here has steady form.

The rocky shores are all the norm.

We hate the calm. We love the storm.

All rage, all sweet, all smiles warm.

You nervous now? You ride the waves.

Right and left, so much misbehaves.

You jones, you steal, the addict craves.

You fear; you pray that Jesus saves.

She was the bad actor.

Discomfort, Her Superpower!

She didn’t point. She just held up the mirror.

“Cmon, sweetheart… take a good look!”

“Things are not as they appear! If you look long enough; you see the cracks.”

Oh, what entertainment!

She’s in the rearveiw now…

What the French refer to as Folie à Deux… 2 people sharing the same delusions and screaming from the rooftops! Shared projections of similar childhood pain and disappointments? I suspect. I don’t know.

Victims.

Is it really paranoid if they are after you?

The death rate is higher here. They drink too much. Smoke too much. Complain constantly and eat poorly. It’s a vicious cycle of addiction-poverty-addiction.

I heard them talking at ‘Timmies’ about the latest casualtie, and one man was asking another… “How could this happen?”

The look on the man’s face being asked suggested he could offer a list. He seemed to choose his words carefully, which faded as my attention was taken up by the middle-aged Asian women behind the counter.

“Americano double double.” She said, smiling.

“Yes.” I answered back.

I’m officially a regular at the Parkdale Timmie’s!

I’m reading my friends book Valedictorian.’ It’s about addiction at a treatment center.

Dennis Mantin was born in Toronto in 1958. However, he grew up in rural Nova Scotia and Cape Breton, where he was introduced to painting and literature.

Mantin left the east coast for Alberta in 1980 and landed a job as a nude model at the Banff School of Fine Arts with acclaimed American Painter and Sculpter Eric Fischl. Meeting Fischl opened his feelings and eyes to really seeing color and tone; even in the most unexpected places.

In 1992, after having returned to Toronto, Mantin dedicated himself to painting and had the good fortune to meet the extraordinary Canadian poetic Painter Paul Fournier, which ignited a lifelong creative friendship. With Fournier’s mentoring, Dennis mounted his first solo exhibition in an antique store in The Beaches neighborhood of Toronto.

After a decade of painting and exhibitions, raising a family and life circumstances forced Mantin to give his attention elsewhere.

In May of 2014, Mantin renewed his relationship with painting and was invited to share Paul Fournier’s studio, which culminated in a solo exhibition at the Abbozzo Gallery at 401 Richmond Street. The exhibition was called The Meditation and alluded to Mantin’s recent interest and dedication to the practice and study of mindfulness Meditation.

While working on The Meditation, Mantin was encouraged to reexamine his writings, which stimulated a revision of a short screenplay from 20 years earlier.

The short film, a 15-minute drama entitled The Meditation, was written, directed, and produced by Mantin in 2017 and featured world renowned actor Jonathan Hyde of the Royal Shakespearen Academy. Jonathan won best supporting actor at the Top Shorts Online Film Festival, and Dennis received an honorable mention for narrative at the same festival. The film received the Award of Excellence from the Canada Shorts Film Festival in 2017.

Dennis started his WordPress blog in 2013 and has over 2000 posts in the decade that followed.

In the autumn of 2023, Dennis will publish his first novel, ‘LOOK THEM IN THE EYES’ with Canadian publisher Friesen Press.

Dennis is a single father, currently living in Toronto with his 12 years old daughter Zylia and their cat Ned.

Dennis Mantin

I am misunderstanding almost everyone.

I really don’t get people.

I can’t read them or their minds.

I misunderstand their intentions.

I think most of you are lying anyway, mostly to yourselves.

I am comfortable being alone.

I have my thoughts and books and the mad souls.

I like writers, especially those who show intention.

You might not like them as people or their characters, but at least they show you a glimpse of reality.

The mad are less ambiguous. They spout their truth. However, it is difficult to be present in such huge amounts of rage and disappointment.

I am in the boring now.

The routine of day to day necessity.

It’s what I wanted. What I craved.

Be careful what you wish for and all that!

The unpredictable past haunts my mind.

The Chaos never goes away.

The Chaos has a file. A compartment.

I can safely go to that compartment.

I explore who I was then and let it go.

This is perhaps the luxury of survival.

I am exploring the boring now.

I like it.

I had a headache and felt like crap.

I took a long extended nap.

You know… the way retirees do.

Across the time, planes, and plantations.

My dreams are just fields of explanations.

Show me histories of me, not you.

I don’t ask, I don’t confide.

I bear witness, and there’s a guide.

Let’s me see, then she fades to blue.

I don’t fight. Wouldn’t if I could.

I’m taking notes, I think I should.

I listen well. It’s what I do.

There’s no fear, no missing, no longing.

Just this sense steeped in belonging.

I see my Mom, our daughter, but not you.

They seem to know me. They bear witness.

With no mention for your forgiveness.

Like me, with you, they are through.

I wake up, and the pains are gone.

There’s a light where darkness shone.

And so much more, I never knew.