War Brides and Families Waiting at Home

Love, patience, and poetry in the spaces between letters and time.

Photo by Arnaud Audoin at Pexels.com

💍 Introduction:

While soldiers went to war, many others waited at home. Wives, husbands, fiancées, parents, and children who kept life going on the home front. Some were war brides (or grooms), leaving behind their countries and families for new lives in unfamiliar lands. Others held fast to hope, raising children alone or writing daily letters with no promise of response. These stories are often left in the margins of history, but in poetry, they come alive. The waiting, the worrying, the daydreams, and the routines. You can capture it all with empathy in verse.

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📚 Poems and Books Inspired by War Brides and Those Who Waited:

Note: The books are affiliate links. Nothing extra will come out of your pocket, but BooksAMillion will pay me for sending you their way. Thanks!

• "A War Bride" by Jesse St. John – A simple rhyming piece that promises to capture the reader's heart. This poem was published in November 1928. 

• "Wait" by Galway Kinnell – A universal meditation on patience, love, and endurance. I'm not crying. You're crying.

• When the War Came Home by Stacy Bannerman – A memoir that speaks to the long-term effects of war on families and partnerships. Although this book covers recent deployments (at the beginning of this century), it speaks to universal feelings.

• "In the Waiting Room" by Elizabeth Bishop – While not directly about war, this poem captures a sense of suspended time and self-awareness. This is an excellent poem that illustrates how a poet can take a few minutes in time and expand them to provide impacts of both physical and emotional environments.

• War Brides: The Stories of the Women Who Left Everything Behind to Follow the Men They Loved by Melynda Jarratt – A rich source of true stories ready for poetic interpretation.

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🖋️ Poetry Form Spotlight: The Persona Poem

A persona poem is written in the voice of someone else, real or imagined. This form is perfect for exploring the lives of war brides, mothers, or children during wartime. Step into their shoes and speak as they would think and react. What did they feel when the mail didn't come, or when the knock on the door late at night occurred? What was it like to build a new life in a new country or raise a family in uncertainty? Let the voice guide the form, tone, and emotion.

• Persona Poems from poets.org
• Learning the Persona Poem from the Poetry Foundation
• Persona Poetry: How to Write a Persona Poem from Writers.com

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✅ Checklist: Waiting & Wondering

☐ Choose a narrator: war bride, mother, child, sibling, sweetheart
☐ What is their day-to-day life like during the war?
☐ Include an emotional undercurrent: fear, hope, pride, loneliness
☐ Mention a real-world detail: a wedding photo, ration book, immigration tag, or telegram
☐ Use their voice: how would they speak or think?
☐ Let the poem show the passage of time (seasons, milestones, missed moments)
☐ Close with a reflection or question that remains unanswered

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✍️ Mini-Prompt:

Write a persona poem from the perspective of someone waiting at home, perhaps sitting by the window, folding laundry, or cooking a meal, when no word has come in weeks.

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💬 Call to Action:

Look through your family stories or ask relatives if anyone remembers a war bride or someone who waited years for a loved one’s return. Consider writing a poem in their voice. These stories are often overlooked but are incredibly rich with feeling. Share your poem with others. It might help someone else give voice to their own family history.

>>>> BONUS <<<<

I Will Wait – The story behind the play that gives voice to generations of military spouses. "Amy Uptgraft, a Veteran military spouse, shares the story behind the play, "I Will Wait" which is the foundation of her non-profit organization, "The Veteran's Spouse Project." After 4 military deployments, Amy co-wrote a play to help process the good and bad experiences, emotions and struggles that are unique to military spouses around the world. A labor of love, "I Will Wait"  gives voice to military spouses across generations of war. It gives hope and creates a community of understanding and belonging for military spouses around the world."

The Website that provides the stories: The Veteran's Spouse Project