Response From the Owner: In Regards to the 1-star Review from w0rldtraveller54 // Natasha Ramoutar

Natasha Ramoutar engages with the reviews that are given to her home as part of our guest edited month exploring the theme of Urban Ephemera.

There is a girl. She was not born in this, country but she is of this country. She finds herself reflected in the sea glass by the river, the afterglow of the high noon sun. She finds herself embedded in each grain of sand on the bank, sediment drawn in from the sea. Several times during her visit, they take a jostling ride around the east bank of the river just outside of Georgetown. The distillery building, sharp against the skyline, beckons each time. She does not go inside to see the “run-down,” “grimy,” and “shabby” interior. She does not wonder “what type of wood the original Coffey stills are made of,” “basic dates and statistics as to the shipping process,” or “the meaning of the word Demerara.”Once, while scouring the internet for clues, she read that the word demerara stemmed from an Arawak word meaning "river of the letter wood." She couldn't imagine the Dutch wrapping their mouths around these sounds, bastardizing each syllable. They were ghosts now, embedded in worn signs, aging forts, invasive flora. Phantoms like the Massacura Man were said to lurk below the rapid waters of the coast and rivers.She does not go inside to sample the rum, does not get to “touch history, drink the results, and visualize time.” Without taste, sight, or touch, she leans on scent alone. The saccharine spirits run their way through the humidity. Sweetness clings to frizzed hair.There is no reason for her to question why there are no "large golf-cart type vehicles" on-site. She doesn't think it's perplexing that "a company who bottles water could not provide water in the washrooms.” It is much safer that you were given bottled water to wash your hands. She wonders if you realize that plumbing is a luxury, but believes that you have already forgotten that you wrote this review.Did you know that someone gave the Demerara River a one-star review on Google? “The Demerara river is a Pleasant place to visit,” they said. Have you been to the river? Did you try to wash your hands?There is a girl. Shortly after her trip, her downtown-bound train will screech to a stop at Midland Station. Amidst the stench of the recycling plant—one that she has become accustomed to, one that is a familiar companion—a sharp scent will cut through. Honeyed. Candied. Sweet.They have already passed the Rouge River and will soon pass the Don River, and she will remember that even the Massacura Man holds no power here. She will remember that these waters are not yours.

Natasha Ramoutar is an Indo-Guyanese writer by way of Scarborough (Ganatsekwyagon) at the east side of Toronto. Her work has been included in projects by Diaspora Dialogues, Scarborough Arts, and Nuit Blanche Toronto and has been published in The Unpublished City II, PRISM International, Room Magazine, Living Hyphen, Understorey Magazine, and more. Her first poetry collection, Bittersweet, will be released in 2020 by Mawenzi House.