By: Stephanie Goodhue

I used to walk along Kensington Ave. Past aromatic crates of fresh fish on display A thick accent stirring the cosmic bouillabaise Yelling out the catch of the day Stray neighborhood cats having their way

I used to walk there in the heart of multi-ethnic everything That was like a circus without the rings Bobbing turbans, dreadlocks and cowboy hats with strings

I used to await Saturday morning shoppers From a Baldwin St. bakery gable After walking home Friday nights, alone when I was able The clang of the steel door deadbolt like a premonition For the symphony of delivery truck horns, morning edition

I used to visit the Global Cheese Shop Where samples of Swiss emantol and smoked gruyere Would suddenly appear Anonymously handed from a white coat sleeve That lived behind a seven foot stack of cheese

I used to stop for a busker named Damon Who played guitar on a good day with a coffee in his case His night before permanently erased He would play "I Dig A Pony" for me And for the passing crowd the performance was free

He said that my dog looked liked Willy Nelson And he reminisced about Texas And technically speaking he is one of my ex's

I used to watch afternoon haze conceal a maze That needed no escaping The curry flavoured air and the casual traipsing As the aromas took hold So would unfold the Kensington parade

I used to visit with a hand-to-mouth painter Who shared Matisse's use of colour And wasn't waiting to be discovered For his vibrant voluptuous psychadelic women All of whom had been forgiven

(He's brown-baggin' it, squat down Paint chips sticking to his brow And a ' pack-a-bacca' that'll be gone An hour from now)

And somehow a life or two went well At the Mandarin Hotel Where rooftop laundry mingled with fire escape soot And usually the junkies arrived on foot

A test drive portion gave the mind a contortion And the brick wall grafitti of Mona Lisa with a banana That never got covered by the guys in bandanas Never got covered but her smile still waits to be discovered As she gazes 3-D according to thee

And it feels like the people you call on Sunday And the things you hope to be one day And nothing is prohibitive And everything's derivative Of all you've ever known

I used to walk along Kensington Ave. Where there were people from everywhere And no one stared As a blur of colours navigated runaway fruit gutters

I used to walk along Kensington Ave.

In the summer I got a new puppy from a person north of Waterloo. I was told that there were only 2 puppies in the litter and that her sister had also been adopted by someone in Toronto, but that is all they knew.

I walk Maddie every night right after CFTO news at Stan Wadlow Park in East York. One night while at the park another person told me how much Maddie looked like another dog named Moxy who came to the park. We compared notes, breed and age and it seemed like maybe we had found her sister.

So, I gave my phone number and we got in touch.....Moxy and Maddie are really sisters! The only reason that we had not seen each other before was because Moxy came to the park about 6ish! It turns out that they lived a few blocks east of the park and we lived a few blocks west.

This has amazed many people and on the day of meeting we had a crowd at the park who had heard that the sisters were meeting. We like to think that Moxy and Maddie knew each other, but maybe it was just two 5 month old puppies meeting. Still today, people come to the park and ask if these are 'the sisters'? They are the talk of Stan Wadlow!

They are so much alike it is quite amazing. From this I have met new friends and it just never stops amazing me at how great Toronto is! Please come and see them sometime.

Submitted by: Kim Warburton