National Adult Literacy Database

February 8, 1999

This week, we have a poem written by Ella Avaguimin, from Montreal, Quebec. Ella is originally from Russia, and she emigrated to Canada to start a new life.

Life

by Ella Avaguimin

I'd like to tell about my immigration to Canada.
When I just arrived in Montreal
I thought how great everything was.
I liked all the things around me.
My mood was perfect.
But then I got into the world,
Where people were cold, strange
And careless about anything.
And I had a lot of problems.
Because, it was not my country
And I didn't know the language.
And my mood slowly went down.
My life, at one time pink and white
In colour became black and grey.
But I have hope,
I just need time.
And everything will be all right

[This poem was taken with permission, from Something on My Mind, An Anthology of Poems by students at the High School of Montreal.]