Windswept

my grandmother’s lacy wedding gown was airy 
it was “Jubilee Blue” and floated free ~
carefully fitted and skillfully sewn,
modelled after a dress that Ginger Rogers wore

she left Saint John with my grandfather 
on the day they married (June 19, 1935)
travelling by train to Montreal against the wind 

the wind that billowed the white sheer curtains 
   in the front window of their apartment on Avenue Montclair
the wind that rustled the starched linen cloth 
   on the polished walnut dining table 
the wind that ruffled the embroidered tea towels 
   in their tiny kitchen 
the wind that sailed on east across the city towards home

and though it was the wind that lifted her
   it was love that grounded her ~
the touch of his hand on her cheek
   the weight of his arm on her shoulder 
the quiet strength of his solid body beside her  
    on those snowy city mornings when they nestled together 
listening to the muffled clank and low rumble
   of the street cars driving back and forth on Sherbrooke Street 

---

On a recent trip to Montreal, I went to see the buildings my grandparents lived in from June 1935 until November 1941 when World War II began and my grandfather left Canada for England. After he left, my grandmother reluctantly returned to Saint John with my Mom who was five years old. Sadly, my grandfather never came home, and she never went back to live in her beloved Montreal.

Seeing the actual apartment buildings at the corner of Montclair Ave and Sherbrooke Street (image below) and a few blocks away on Walkley Ave brought me so much closer to my grandmother than I anticipated and helped me visualize what her life was like there. This poem grew from those imaginings.

may these words bring truth and healing
through open hands and hearts
and then, let it flow back into our Mother Earth
for the love of all her beings.