Fire and Brimstone

Ronald Charles Epstein is a Toronto-based freelance writer and published poet.

In the 1950s and 1960s, Scarborough, Ontario, was the all-Canadian
suburb. Barry Dempster’s Christian-fundamentalist upbringing is a
dominant theme in poems that re-create the Scarborough of his youth.

In “Sunday School in the Promised Land,” the poet teases his
ethnocentric brethren, whose Jesus “sang / his daily God Save the
Queen.” He points out, in “Disappearing Grandmothers,” that
“Bible waving [Nana and Grammie who] preferred ... Valley of the Dolls
[both] died the same, middle- / of-the night gasps.” The older, wiser
poet retains his sense of humor; he offers “Endless Prayers,” asking
God to protect his beloved cat from dogs and ditches.

Dempster’s suburban idyll is not without its discontents. He acidly
describes “Nice Boys” like himself: “You can stretch one / as far
as you need to go.” Rebelliousness simmers in juvenile pranksters,
would-be teen studs, and “The Sunoco Bear.” The decisive act of
defiance occurs in 1969, when the teenager replaces a picture of Jesus
with a Jimi Hendrix poster.

Barry Dempster’s poetic recollections of Scarborough are a welcome
addition to the Canadian literary landscape.