Torontology

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

Stephen Cain, literary editor of the Toronto magazine Queen Street
Quarterly, has also published sound and visual poetry. His latest book
may be classified as “postmodern.” It displays the postmodernist’s
notorious lack of accessibility. Many poems are named after classic
movies like Star Wars and Blade Runner, but their connections with the
films (shared title aside) are usually obscure.

This does not mean that Cain offers mere gibberish. In several poems,
the last word of one sentence is the first word of the next. The
reader’s ability to discern this pattern does not, however, clarify
the text. Cain’s use of disconnected rhyming words, such as
“bifurcation/fabulation/ fabrication” recalls the Nona Hendryx song,
“Transformation.” Unfortunately, the 1980s singer is unable to
transform the rhyme into lyrics.

The poet salts his work with pop and other cultural references,
appeasing the educated and alienating the rest. For example, Simon and
Garfunkel fans will recognize the words “I have my books & my
pornography to protect me” as a reference to the lyrics of “I Am a
Rock.” But such tricks are merely stale mints, placed on the dirty
pillow of a fleabag hotel. Cain practices mental autoeroticism, turning
Torontology into yet another dismal science.