"I was 13 years on the street and now I'm 17 years sober. I was a professional street performer in Ontario."

"What do you miss most about being on the street?"

"Nothin'. Except the freedom to travel. That was fun. And I could make a lot of money."

"How did you make money? What did you perform?"

This apparently modest, reserved man transformed before my eyes. In a booming voice he said: "EXCUSE ME SIR, DO YOU HAVE A BIT OF CHANGE FOR A CANADIAN POET? I MAKE MY LIVING RECITING POEMS, YOU SEE!"

If you were on Baker Street around lunchtime, just outside of the Royal Bank, you may have heard this man. Talk about projection!

"Do you still perform?"

"I can't perform without alcohol. I can't handle the attention without it. The drink would help me transform and just not care what people thought about me. The cops would sometimes stop me because I was 'impeding the flow'. A musician can just play his harmonica and it's a passive experience for people. But as a poet, I needed to draw a crowd who would stop and listen."

"Would you tell me a poem?"

"This one is called 'Short Story'..."

I'm sorry, though he was loud and crystal clear, he spoke too fast for me to write it all down. I didn't fully understand the message - which is usually a sign that it's a good poem.

"I'm also working on a book. It's called, 'My Life, and You Can Have It.'"