Toronto, Saturday, 28th March, 1885 Received late this evening...wire from Lt.-Col. A.T.H. Williams, that he had been authorized to raise a Battalion for service in the North West and directing me to join Captain Winslow at Millbrook and raise a Company from Cavan and Manvers.
Showed Mother the wire myself,
it seemed the thing.
She put it on the shelf;
pressed my hand, but didn't cling.
And mayhap she finds, one hopes,
comfort in the stripes I earned
drilling hard with scopes
and barrels in sun-soaked fields: I learned
the ropes.
School has been fulfilling,
- halfway done my law degree.
Summer next, God willing
----I'll be home and turning twenty-three.
But first, quelling a rebellion will be my lot:
Not the worst. And Mother took it sportingly, I thought.
*** yeh - slow news day :) ***
Louis Riel's First Girlfriend
Reads the papers in Montreal when her husband is gone to work.
Calls it self-defense, for Mother leaves articles out
when his name appears.
Her parents quick to end that courtship - young half-breed Turk
His priestly studies, French heritage and sincerity clouded
by his lineage. Her tears
have long since ceased on his behalf but sometimes
she wonders: would he have led
rebellions in two provinces, if they'd wed?
2 comments:
This guy sounds so very British! 'Mother took it sportingly, I thought.' I like the way you're using rhyme here, especially in the stanzas where the line lengths are irregular; it really works well.
In the second section, the first stanza had me a little confused. Does this person live with her parents even though she's married?
Andie, your poems are making me wish my memory for Canadian history were better--there's so much going on here. I particularly love this one; the voice in the first section is great, and I love what you've done with the second.
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