\u201cA haiku by Ray Robertson, like a novel by Ray Robertson, is the language we actually speak \u2013\u2002whether by \u2018language\u2019 you mean what it sounds like, or what life seems to us, given that we talk this way. \u2018Corn Flakes before bed \/ Zoloft for breakfast \/ I\u2019m doing the best I can.\u2019 The language is so mordant, relaxed, flint-chip shapely and edged, I think Sam Spade must have said these haiku first, between gun-butts to the skull, and Robertson channelled them. \u2018Telling yourself it\u2019s going to be okay \/ Over and over and over.\u2019 They\u2019re the alleys, sidewalks, offices, subways of modern Toronto, and they have the Zen poet\u2019s reverence for the world as presence of the All (\u2018Sleet storm \/ Tin roof \/ Who needs Mozart?\u2019). Their search for a way out only momentarily succeeds, and never ends, but it hovers around ecstasy. \u2018Gasoline rainbows \/ Exist \/ Look!\u2019\u201d \u2014A. F. Moritz<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Poems about getting old and not liking it. About getting high on Christmas Eve. About a hole in the sky where Honest Ed\u2019s used to be. About killing mosquitoes and petting strange dogs, and a homeless man who feeds the pigeons who are always happy to see him. About tuning out and turning off and unplugging. About friends who\u2019ve died, and confused skyscrapers on foggy days, and Nabokov in his underwear. About shame in the evening, regret in the morning, and, if there\u2019s time, a nap in the afternoon. About a world where the Clash is classic rock and experience killed curiosity and the corpse wondered what\u2019s next.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhy I Am Not a Poet\u201d is the lively preface-memoir about growing up and becoming a writer in Toronto in the \u201980s and \u201990s, and being influenced by it\u2019s long-gone bars, bookstores, and people.<\/p>\n

Poetry 2020 \u2022 5.5 x 8.5 inches, with French Flaps \u2022 PB 89 pages \u2022\u00a0 9781550968736<\/p>\n","protected":false},"featured_media":4710,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":[],"product_cat":[313],"product_tag":[430,534,516],"class_list":["post-4709","product","type-product","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","product_cat-poetry","product_tag-canadian-author","product_tag-haiku","product_tag-poetry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.exileeditions.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/product\/4709","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.exileeditions.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/product"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.exileeditions.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/product"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.exileeditions.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=4709"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.exileeditions.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/4710"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.exileeditions.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=4709"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"product_cat","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.exileeditions.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/product_cat?post=4709"},{"taxonomy":"product_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.exileeditions.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/product_tag?post=4709"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}