David Skelly Langen

Aerial-David Skelly Langen was a poet, pugilist, and ongoing survivor of street-level, drug-and-violence mayhem in Toronto, Moncton, and Liverpool, England. He described himself as an “outgoing, self-admitted work in progress.” His poetry is published in a collection of ‘poems of resistance’ in Resistance Poetry 2 (2012), and in the family-based anthology, They Have to Take You In (2014). In January 2024, a selection of his poems will appear in the international cultural journal, Borderless.

David, also known as Ariel or Aerial-David, died suddenly at his home on December 20, 2023 in Toronto at the age of 37. He is survived by his parents, Roger and Veronica (Eley), of Dartmouth, Nova Scotia; partner, Marija Zoric, Toronto; brother, Bern Alysaundre, Dartmouth; siblings Michelle Curtis and Niki MacDonald, Newfoundland, and Krista Thibodeau Short, New Brunswick.

David was born at Women’s College Hospital, Toronto, on June 18, 1986. He grew up in the Cabbagetown and Riverdale areas of Toronto, attending Winchester Junior Public School, Market Lane Senior Public, and briefly Malvern Collegiate.

Attracted by gangsta rap and its associated lifestyle, he dropped out of school and “entered the life.”

“This West Side Place” – a phrase borrowed from one of his poems – will celebrate David’s life as an event in language, personality, and resistance to pain. Celebrants will be invited to say a few words, recite their own poems, or just listen.

DAVID LANGEN MEMORIAL FUND

In lieu of flowers, attendees are asked to make a donation great or small to the David Langen Memorial Fund. Donation envelopes will be provided. Cheques are payable to Roger Langen or by e-transfer to [email protected]. Proceeds will be directed toward publication of a volume of David’s poetry to recognize his work and honour his memory. Donors will be acknowledged in the foreword to the book. Copies of Resistance Poetry 2 will also be available to anyone interested.

The service will conclude with a recitation of David’s poems by his father, Roger, and with a final poem of goodbye from David’s mother, Veronica. Refreshments will follow. Participants are also invited to gather afterward at a quiet restaurant nearby to share memories at Red Cranberries Restaurant, 601 Parliament St, Toronto.

IN DAVID’S OWN WORDS

“I know nothing else but / the compelling thought of advancing my position in this broken mirror / life as I see it … The moment bends / Spells spoken to the caves … the license plate on the back of my head spells trouble … I believe in my own lies / a psychopath in paralysis … abducting word skills from / something the world kills … diseased with addiction … Up is nothing more / than an animated feature presentation … Homer as a d-day rather than a replay rarity … hurricanes steep through my kettled mind … I’ll make a place on the map just to attract the UN … cavities dance to the pulsing sound of the root canal … scissors cut through the vein of ambition / thinking has lost the war … I exist in a reign of horror … bite the nail I say / using my head to bang nail into coffin.”

The following poem, a prophecy, was published in 2012.

Overdose

Where are you?

Are you where I see you standing, or somewhere else?

Am I here standing next to you, or somewhere else with you?

Am I alone?

Where did you go? I don’t see you there.

Why is my prescription empty?

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Rest in peace, David. YOU WERE GREATLY LOVED.

Family and friends may also join the memorial service via webcasting at:

https://pickartphoto.com/stream/Langen/