Bridging the Gap

Laurence Steven is Chairman of the English Department at Laurentian
University and author of Dissociation and Wholeness in Patrick White’s
Fiction.

This inspiring collection addresses the sentiments of landed immigrants
who come to a new country in search of something better.

The poems here are mainly in free verse, with a few in haiku and in
senryu. Although the poems are short and the lines follow no predictable
pattern, the point of each is clear. Saunders’s poetic freedom is not
unrestricted, but rather than formal constraints providing her limits,
it is the reader’s ability to understand and to respond that guides
her.

Through vivid images of her reactions to common Canadian
experiences—such as those in “Humid Weekend” and
“Winter”—Saunders succeeds in expressing to the reader her
feelings of loneliness, confusion, and finally excitement. In her
attempt to “bridge the gap” between herself, Canada, and her native
Scotland, she provides a sense of hope and fulfilment for other
immigrants who come to a vast country alone and ignorant of the culture.

As she guides her reader through the collection—and indeed one feels
her strong presence within the poetry—Saunders’s spirit comes to
life in her language. While never losing sight of either homeland, and
dealing with them equally as far as structure and diction are concerned,
she now knows that Canada is her home. This becomes clear in a section
of the book dedicated to her trip to Scotland. In an image from “Eve
of Departure,” her new-found allegiance is apparent: “knowing /
tomorrow’s jet / will bring me / to the maple.” Although Saunders
often is lonely and reminisces about her distant Scotland, she gradually
adopts Canada as her new land. The poem “Letter from Canada” is
written near the end of her return trip to Scotland: “September rain /
Among / my sister’s mail / a letter / from / my grandchild.”

It is with such simplicity that this poet expresses the joy,
excitement, and poignancy of a new homeland and the opportunities found
there. As a collection of sensitive observation and memory, Bridging the
Gap is a celebration of life—old and new.