Canadian Feminist Women From Toronto Poem by Gayathri Seetharam

Canadian Feminist Women from Toronto
-Gayathri B. Seetharam
One of my husband's younger maternal aunts sent him a picture of herself
On her graduation day with the degree certificate in her hand
And she has lived her life as a homemaker with two children and a loving husband
And both her husband and she are good hosts and invite us over or treat us to a hotel breakfast
When we are in Bangalore, India;

Coincidentally, I came upon a poem in The New York Times Style magazine by the poet, Yuan Zhen,
Which read thus:
Ever since the Western horsemen began raising smut and dust
Fur and fleece, rank and rancid, have filled Hsien Chang'an
Women make themselves Western matrons by the study of Western make-up
Entertainers present Western tunes, in their devotion to music;

My husband's aunt has hearsay has it, loves to pray to God
And attend philosophy classes, dear hobbies of my own dear mother,
But she loves movies with Indian themes, spicy and racy flicks with romance and action
And I love my Indian side but hanker after what is a way of life for me, Western"ness"
For it has been 26 years since I have been in Canada and before that, I spent a two years in USA;

I am a Canadian and proud of it
And I have a sneaking feeling that my feminist side would shock my friends and family a little
For I have kept it under lock and key for a long time
The key to it is in my heart;

I call myself a feminist feminine woman of 2020
And I saw an essay about five feminist British women by Blanche Wiesen Cook in the magazine
From the same international edition of The NY Times,
Women whose career changed so much for women in literature and public life;

I have to name seven of my current and one past neighbour, all feminist feminine women,
Canadian and feisty, in their late sixties and early seventies, actually friends of mine,
Who bring the True North Strong and Free like the current NBA Champions, The Toronto Raptors,
They are women who have, with their positive attitudes, and beautiful homes and gardens,
Been a source of inspiration to me;

Cathy has been there for me through thick and thin and she is a retired nurse
Who worked for Hospital for Sick Kids
The others, Joanne, Martine, Judy, Sandra, the two Jeans, one Ukranian and not a part of the neighbourhood anymore
And the other Irish but a widow who had an Ukranian husband,
Have all worked for a living at some point in time or the other
And some more than others, throughout their work years,
Supported by their husbands who do not lay down the law
But have a demanding side and are dear men with a twinkling smile
And a friendly manner of speaking;

The ladies, their wives, have feminist attitudes,
And I hope that I bring back my own success with earnings in my life
And feminism, both feminine and practical wins the day,
And these ladies, like their famous British counterparts,
Like to walk and drive;

I must bring in my project to make Russian lace
Which is bound to change the face of my old blouses
And these ladies are conscious about their appearance
But would not fit the description of winning the lace making race
They may be guilty of wishing their drinks to be laced
Or more likely, their Bloody Marys "spiked"
And I am sure they say their Hail Marys when Sweet Jesus makes love to them.