August 16, 2013 The Atlantica, Halifax NS 6:40pm
I have a beautiful Man
Silver-haired
bare-chested in My King-size Bed
playing with His Tablet
while Room Service
brings Me 20 ounces of Stella Artois
& tries not to look
August 16, 2013 The Atlantica, Halifax NS 6:30pm
Walking past the fenced-in grave yard
in the dead-centre of town
I smelled the distinct smell of pot
wafting through the tombstones
& lush vegetation
I heard a precise “Fuck You”
& kept walking
After buying this hand-made journal
I passed a seated smoking figure
Female — heaving silhouetted
smoke straight out in front of Her
in the direction of a Comrade
Who parked His Car
& asked for a light
–
*title from My Mother who wrote a short story by this title about “Them Old Fellers” in the house on McNutt Island
The Hawk Window Seat 8:40pm
The Sky is half pink
half silver grey
with A Three-quarter Moon
above The Lighthouse
glinting through The Scrub Spruce
to My Bedside
The Hawk Portico 5:30pm
I make My Lap
available to cats
& men
but only for short
periods of time
I invariably get up
to write
or wash dishes
or to get a sweater
if it’s windy
then I sit down
& cross My Legs
again
The Tomato-coloured Couch 5:05pm
I know what The Honour is
in being Doctor Blair’s Wife
for Nine Years today
Have I gotten over Our
less-than-perfect wedding
into the routine of laundry
& dinner
bedtime reading?
He holds My Left Wrist
& that’s when I love Him
The Hawk West Desk Window August 13, 2013 11:19pm
I no longer think of The Island
as the insular respite I shared each summer
— shared as a pair of stalwarts
as I did with My Mother —
I now think of the broad expanse
of Nova Scotia imperialized
by Its undulating shoreline
to The South
housing Me now
permanently
on an island
off an island
and beyond
The Hawk Living Room 5:15pm
I can let the axe fall
on anyone:
husband
mortgagee
friend —
but not child
for a child
I have all praise
and sympathy
children are growing
into falsehood
and where innocence remains
I have unconditional love
The Hawk Living Room 3:17pm
My Seething Insides
can be delved into
examined under glass
for the purpose
of Human Kind
I am One Example
of The Seven or more
Billion Specimens
here for the purpose
of knowing
Themselves
as They would know
God
The Hawk West Desk Window 8:11pm
Since I Named My Car
Gun Metal Grey
Let Me Write
Of The Varieties
Of That Colour —
First Off — Is It
A Colour?
Is It Simply Black Fused With White
Or Does It Have Substance
Like Fog?
Why Do I Feel Secure
In Garments Of Grey —
Grey Accessories —
A Grey Car
With A Tinge Of Blue
A Steely Blue
Like The Silver Bullet?
The Tomato-coloured Couch 5:40pm
My Life Is Great —
I’m Drinking A Labatt’s Blue
My New Car Is Out Front
An Iridescent Gun Metal Grey
I Can Drive With
Newly Installed Sirius
Set On 90’s On 9
What More Could A Girl
In Her Early 50’s
Possibly Want?
OH! I Forgot To Tell You
The Name:
Ford Fusion
The Action
Or Process Of Melting By Means Of Intense Heat;
The State of Fluidity As A Result
Of Being Heated
(Oxford English Dictionary 1993)
Joanna Gilman Hyde 