My Mother in the New Fade, Part 1

i wish i had more to tell you
about the specifics of my mother's life
in the New Fade, but what follows
will have to suffice

at the start of it, there is a vast community
like many Americans
of immigrant descent
these particular ones
from French-speaking Canada
settling in New England
and finding home among their own kind
finding dignity in respectability
and forging a new life
of new possibility

there were war stories
barbershops
and mills
to be had
floating in the backdrop
and a love of the violin
all before my mother was born

it's easy to imagine that
no language but French
was spoken during all this time
and for someone who does not speak French now
that's a little startling to believe
because i'm only two generations removed...