canary-coloured stretches
of flowering canola
flank the green rectangles
of their unbloomed stage
on the prairie patchwork quilt
where the windripple of grasses
performs its vivid dance

the soft jaune of sidings and latticework
bordering above, beside and below
the white pillars and trim
of the newly-restored
Gabrielle Roy heritage house
and birthplace, in St. Boniface
home of her early happiness
before poverty struck
and the family had to leave this
Rue Deschambault
subject of her book by that name
and her point of
origin and return
on the“petit tram jaune”
that always carried her as a child
to the other side of the Provencher Bridge
and the cultural contrast of Winnipeg’s metropolis
the tension of English over French
and back again to her life
filled with more kernels
for the future stories that would one day
make her famous
and a history-setter for
Canadian literature

The Golden Boy atop the Legislature Building
looks down over the city
as he has since well before my mother
was a child here

Manitoba has brought us
the long skirts in soft yellow
with white blouses
(found at Helene’s in Winnipeg
for the bridesmaids-to-be)
shown to me, the mother-of-the-groom
and one bridesmaid, our daughter
at our hotel in the St. James area
in a bridal catalogue
after the day of wedding attire discoveries
a cheerful colour, the bride explained
and smiling, we toast the finds
over a Bailey's on ice
and agree

before that, the gold of the July sun
over the long blond stretch of
Highway 23 in St. Leon
hot and unyielding
across the blue of
the open skied prairie
where the trees are too low
to be generous of shade
and the daylight persists
until well after ten o’clock at night

refreshing are the greens
of the line of poplar trees
shielding Baie du Lac
in all its stand-still blue

and the deeper, darker Jack Pines
like Bonsai, bent by the wind
across stark plains
willow snow
dotting the air
over the lush carpet
that services Belgian Bowling evenings
in the family backyard

the red comes in strong
with the old Miami train station house
at the town by the same name
before we reach Oak Bluff
but the Red River at the Forks
is predominantly brown-tinged
as it meanders and expands
rushing beneath the cement barrier wall
with its blue mark to tell the story of
record flood levels and First Nations

pink, white and yellow roses
formed my corsage
symbol of the reason for
our first trip to Manitoba
the province whose little town of St.Leon
produced the woman who stole our son’s heart
and brings him back here
every summer and Christmas
and sometimes in between
to her home and family

soon their hands will share gold
but for now, their hearts and faces
and those of all in their circle, have an aura
of brightness like that of the flowering canola
these are the colours I'll remember

from our first visit to Manitoba

07/17/2004

Author's Note: Photo is of myself in front of the Gabrielle Roy Heritage House in Saint Boniface

Posted on 07/18/2004
Copyright © 2024 Maureen Glaude