Gwendolen Chaloner's Poetry

Mrs. Chaloner was a published poet, and she won many awards for her poems.  
We asked her children to select their favorites, which you can read here.
Ted Chaloner ’59:
“Belonging” was written about the Quebec Separation referendum of 1976. The images are of Mount Royal, a park in the middle of Montréal. The Symbol is the lighted cross at the top.

"Belonging"
 
When all my world was young, or nearly so,
And May and June were blending into one,
I’d climb the wooden steps, row after row,
To reach the summit where the trilliums spun
Their creamy petals through an emerald shrine.
And life was very full and very sweet,
The sky, the trees, the blossoms all were mine.
This was my hill above the city street.
And later when the slopes wore winter white,
And the metropolis lay still below,
The towered Symbol spilled its evening light
Like amethyst upon the wind-swept snow.
Then, being young, I said, “Here I belong.”
But times have changed: some say that I was wrong.
Gillian Chaloner Larsson ’54:
Mrs. Chaloner’s three children attended Grace Church School, and her granddaughter is Kim Chaloner, the current Dean of Community Life at Grace. Her great-granddaughters, Sabina and Ramona B., are current students.
 
"To my Grandchildren"

Before you lisped your names I had a dream
That I would make a path for you to tread,
And hold your hands to ease rough ways ahead;
But vain dreams die though born of love’s esteem.
I’ve learned my dreams are not your dreams at all,
Nor your ways mine. Those pinnacles you’d reach
Elude and frighten me, and though for each
Of you my faith and pride grow full and tall,
No matriarchal privilege would I claim.
No false ancestral ties to place our name
Or long-lived wisdom should impede your climb.
My children go: treasure your summertime.
And if God grants one prayer alone,
I’d pray you’ll someday know the love I’ve known.
 
Joan Chaloner Steen ’56
“Lately I have been re-reading the poems in Mom’s little blue book Passing By. As I read them it brought back memories of her always advising us to write about the things we knew, and I can see this reflected in her poetry: places we had been, family celebrations, and events in our lives.”
"Tradition"
 
I said I will not decorate this year,
Yet as I spoke I knew I surely would,
And now the Christmas wreath is on the door,
The rust-brown partridge nestled as it should
Among the glossy leaves and velvet pears,
And on the top a gold and crimson bow
To call a greeting to those passing by,
A ritual that we started long ago.
 
The silver rose-bowl once again is filled
With scarlet berries wreathed in darkest green,
While candles stand like sentinels each side
To add their warmth upon the table scene.
The painted horses vie with bearded trolls
The march beside the white-winged angel throng;
The music box you bought when we were young
Still plays with lilting voice its Christmas song.
 
Then there’s the crèche, with Mary and the Child,
And Joseph standing by; I’ve set it so
With sheep and shepherds round the humble shed
Fashioned like one from Oberammergau.
I smooth the hand-carved wood with lingering touch
You made it with such craftsmanship and pride
So once again in simple dignity
It forms the focus of our Christmastide.
 
Dark clouds have blotted out the afterglow,
Bust festive treasures now are all in place,
And in the dusk I light a Christmas flame
And hold it so the light falls on your face.
I thought I could not do it, but I did.
I wonder if you watched and if you knew.
I’d like to think you smiled and understood
I did it all in memory of you.
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Grace Church School is a co-educational independent school in downtown Manhattan, New York City providing instruction for over 800 students in junior kindergarten through twelfth grade.