Reflections

New book of poetry and stories from John Giraudy

Last Thursday evening about 20 people gathered at the Picton library to hear County resident John Giraudy read excerpts from his new book of poetry and short stories, Reflections. The book is a compendium of items he had written over the span of several decades, based on observations during travels either in his career with the Royal Air Force or later during his business trips. “My first poems were taking the Mickey out of situations. But as I wrote more, I became more serious about it,” he said. His poetry writing started more or less by happenstance. He was on a business trip to South Africa and found out he had to wait a week to get a return flight, so to pass the time he began writing poetry. “When you’re in an airport, there’s always something to write about, and if you put it into some kind of poetic format, it’s something you can keep,” he said.

Mr. Giraudy was born in St. Lucia to a teenage mother during the Second World War. His father was a US paratrooper, who was later killed in action in Manila, in February 1945. The stigma of shame on the well-respected Giraudy family was intense and resulted in Mr. Giraudy’s mother being sent away for a time. About eight or nine years later, she got married and moved to England, leaving Mr. Giraudy in the care of his grandmother—who called him her favourite grandson. “She was very strict, Frenchorigin, and a very tough lady. She didn’t tolerate any excuses. She thought that everything was possible if you put your mind to it. She brought me up with pride and instilled in me that you are who you are. I went through life with that—people judge you on who you are,” said Mr. Giraudy. He said that growing up in a multi-racial society made him a more tolerant person and was a good preparation for when he joined his mother in England at age 15. After completing his O-Levels, he joined the RAF, hoping to become a pilot. But his less-than-perfect eyesight put him on a slightly different career path and he ended up in RAF communications. He completed his A-Levels at night school and then studied economics at the University of Nottingham. Later, he obtained a post-graduate business degree and worked with British Aerospace. During his university years he had worked as a tobacco picker in Strathroy, Ontario. (“Worst job ever,” he said.) But he loved Canada and the people he met here, so when De Havilland Canada offered him a job in 1981, he quickly accepted. The amount of travel required put some stress on his family, and he temporarily switched to working for an antenna company based in Whitby, with the intent to take over the company within a year. “But aviation was in my blood, and when Bombardier approached me, the decision took a nanosecond,” he said.

He worked in the Regional Aircraft program, and retired in 2003 as president of the division.

His travels took him to five continents and to numerous countries. It was those life experiences that informed his writing, and last year at the urging of his wife, Karen, he was motivated to make a small compendium of his poetry and recollections. The book was initially intended just to be shared with family and close friends, but the publisher said it had the potential for a greater reach. The book is divided into five sections, and is interspersed with photographs taken by Mr. Giraudy’s daughter, Donna Koumoundouros, who lives in Scotland. There is also one photograph— taken in Scotland during the Skiffie World Championships—by Ann Cooper. Mr. Giraudy said that while this is primarily a book of poetry, he does not consider himself a poet. Instead, he writes from the heart and incorporates elements of meter and rhythm. The writings span across his life from a child growing up in St. Lucia to reflections on his own grandchildren. The words are chosen with care, with a precise meaning in mind, and at exactly the right number—neither a jot more nor a tittle less. What are missing in the written word are the pauses and inflections that imbue meaning, and that is what Mr. Giraudy provided in his reading last Thursday.

Mr. Giraudy has a measured baritone, mid-Atlantic voice with a residual Caribbean lilt, and he prefaced each of his recitals with a short explanation. His phrasing brought the words to life, creating an aural picture of love, of regret, of anticipation, excitement, anxiety, or wonder. His youthful exuberance comes out in The Flea, a poem about an ill-fated ride on a racehorse when he was about 10 years old. His striving for an ideal is detailed in Forgiveness:

Ignore with grace I must
The fickleness of fatuous action

There are poems about his neighbour’s cat, the cycle of life in a nearby marsh, first love, insomnia, and one about his beloved St. Lucia—a place that his heart still calls home:

A jewel, in an indigo sea—
 Saint Lucia do I espy!
Helen of the West art thee,
 for your beauty, no one can deny

The final section of the book comprises a few short stories, and closes with a reminiscence of his grandmother and his final visit with her shortly before she died. Reflections is available at Books & Company, or online at Amazon.