by Janice Konstantinidis (guest author) on 12 April, 2011
At the age of twelve, Janice was taken by her grandparents and father to Mount Saint Canice, one of the Magdalene Laundries. The laundry was run by the Sisters of the Good Shepherd in Hobart, Tasmania. Now Janice lives in California, USA, where she enjoys writing and tending her beautiful garden. Here she shares one of her recent poems.
Summer
Buttercup yellow is the sun in brightest blue,
Dandelions, in paddocks, not green,
but browning and turning back to that dark earthy hue
and thickening of sounds are
cicadas and swarming bees,
and chirruping nests in trees
and winging insects fluttering honey
from marigolds, petunia and alyssum.
These are summer sweetness to me
and I lie face up.
The sun warms
my blood from the winter cold
into that deep warmth which is not the fragile one of spring.
I feel summer absorb me
and I record the growth of shrub and tree
Janice is a dear friend of mine. I am very pround to call her “friend” and I am so proud of her EVERY DAY for all that she has overcome and all of the wonderful talents that she possesses. The laundry DID NOT break her spirit and she WILL perserve!!
I LOVE YOU JANICE K!!
Janice, thank you for your input, I sincerely resonate with your incarceration memories.
Thank you very much Wendy,
Were you at Mount Saint Canice?
Kind regards,
Janice.
No, I was in the Pines in Adelaide Australia.
Well, it sounds to me as though they were all pretty much the same. My heart is with you. Please feel free to email me if you’d like to to talk more.
Janice.
I have tears Michelle, thank you so much. People have been so kind and supportive of me.
I love you too – Janice.
Those words Michelle, PROUD of you/her. In 57 years I have heard that once, it was last year 2010 from my brother! not that we “need” it, just the earthquake of feeling that goes with it when you hear some-one like yourself say that to an X-inmate! thank you. I felt it!
Have a Superior Day
Wendy, I am proud of you! I am proud of you for still being here, that took courage. Many of us died prematurely. Many of us are not able to access a website. Many of us went insane. So take a bow. Sending love, Janice.