Joanna Gilman Hyde

Dr Blair wrote to me

that he loved my toes —

what about the rest of me?

Where is he now?

And whose toes is he after

23 years later?

Two of my favourite sounds:

Rain & Ocean Surf —

The sounds of water

in motion.

Last night Eye had a Coors Edge

at an outdoor cafe

in Shelburne

where Eye sat for hours

to take in the sights

of traffic and people —

Today Eye went out

to The Cape —

the three-mile long

spit of stone and sand, white sand

and green dunes

upon which is anchored

the one hundred foot high Cape Light

which shines

into my bedroom window —

out there upon its tree-less wilderness

Eye saw an orange butterfly

heading somewhere

and found a beverage can

faded to its aluminum sheen

and saw a one-legged man

sun bathing with an artificial leg

propped up against his beach chair.

There’s a line of light

beyond the scrub spruce

jutting against the monochromatic sky

which Eye could paint

if Eye painted that way —

butt Eye paint with found objects

abstractly

and the view Eye behold

is painted in M(eye) Mind

Selling my mother’s book

at the Western Nova Scotia

Exhibition Eye have seen

many kinds of people

in time to the music

including a Mexican family tending

an adolescent in a wheelchair

who was fed sips of water

in time to the music

as his father listened

to The Mariachi Band

and fanned his son

with a towel

in time to the music

as the painted Senoritas

flounced their wide red skirts

in time to the music

and a very young girl watching

bounced herself around

in time to the music

and Eye watched

an Indian woman in Red & Gold

dance for an imaginary lover

in time to the music

Eye carry the grief

of My Unborn Daughter

and how sweet

to know She still lives

inside the glass of water

Eye filled with Her Napkin

at the time of my tears

upon Her Appearance

to me in a church

in Middle La Have

on a night in December

when She came

with Her Name

Eye took off my favourite sandals

at two different walkways

today:

first beside the long blue ribbed plastic

carpet roll

of Stoney Island Beach —

the long and graceful expanse

of surf and people

on the east side of Cape Island —

the second was at the little boardwalk

to the more rugged Hawk Beach

right where Eye live

with The Guzzle at one end

and slightly irregular sand declevities

undulating along its familiar stretch

partially used as nesting ground

by the endangered Piping Plovers —

Eye walked these two white sand beaches

today

in my aloneness

and even went for an ice cream cone

inbetween

Eye still have Gully

fed on dry cat food

and infrequent pieces of bacon

He meanders around the cats

unafraid

on the deck

and flies off somewhere

with the regular gulls

at dusk

With a confusion of bracelets

upon My Left Wrist

and double watches on My Right

Eye gesture to My Mother’s Book

McNutt’s Island Journal

and put forth My Sales Pitch

to anyone who will listen

This evening is beautiful

mild & quiet

but Eye will not be walking

on the beach

as that would exemplify

my aloneness

which Eye am finding hard

to bear

Oh to be Gully

sitting, standing, on the deck rail

preening & stretching

He doesn’t care

that He is alone —

Oh, He just flew off