Writers Abroad Magazine Issue 3 September 2015 | Page 12

WRITERS ABROAD MAGAZINE

Remembering Home
A Poem by Dianne Ascroft
As I lounged tranquilly in a Muskoka chair beside a lake on a hot summer day, did
mosquitoes feast on my bare arms as dusk fell?
As I flitted across a pristine fluffy blanket of snow on a crisp winter night, how often
did I slither and fall, jarring my spine on the fresh coverlet?
As I padded along a country road to the clip clop beat of Mennonite horses trotting
by, did blaring radios from passing cars dispel my time warp?
As I watched the second language on Toronto’s street signs change from Chinese to
Korean to Polish, travelling the streetcar’s route, did I feel a stranger in my own city?
As I strolled across the moonlit campus, lost in my thoughts, how often did I stop
mid-stride, conceding right of way to a skunk shuffling across my path?
As I rushed along a muggy Toronto street, my step lightened by a busker’s raucous
song, did the suffocating heat ensnare me and break my stride?
Leaning on the polished rail of the Centre Island ferry, watching Toronto’s
skyscrapers recede as flat, serene parkland approached, did I yearn for the buzz of
the frenetic grey jungle receding?
My past is comprised of golden moments.
Do I remember or imagine this distant world? WA

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