WWI: Switzerland

A century ago WWI in its last days continued to make itself felt even in European countries not caught up in the conflict.

My mother often reminisced about her childhood in Switzerland in those years of going without, and her father already in America waiting for their arrival delayed by the war.



WWI: Switzerland


Next door
the Marne and the Somme.
I was like the Princess
with her nonsense pea,
bemoaning a lack of oranges
and pebble knots in stockings
darned instead of discarded.

Empty shelf years
broken once with a celebration:
Oma and Opa's 50th anniversary.
I imagined our offering to be gold,
jewelry for her, cufflinks for him.
But all my pleas for a grand gift
only brought head shaking.

Cheeks burning,
prodded by my mother
I handed them our beribboned box,
confused when they proclaimed it
their favorite present of all:
a half-kilo of coffee beans
trailing earthy aromas.



Marilyn Aschoff Mellor