The Hawk West Desk Window 7:12pm
I painted once
a watercolour sunset
& wrote on the back
“This could be a cover
for The New Yorker”
I gave it to My First Husband
Who put it in His Parents’ attic
Yet tonight I saw My Painting
in real life
out My West Desk Window
in the sky beyond The Cape
edged below by the silhouetted dunes
bathed above by the astonishing pink
I had tried to capture
The Hawk Deck 10:40am
22nd Anniversary of My Mother’s Brain Tumour Diagnosis
I live in a place
where women wear Their Robes
until noon
where cats meander across
other people’s lawns
where The Fall Sun
allows You a final stipend
of sitting on The Deck
where You reflect on a past
You know now
is gone
The Hawk West Desk Window 7:38am
A Teenager’s Lament to His Mother:
“You had Me believe in Santa Claus
You had Me believe in The Easter Bunny
Now You ask Me to believe in God?”
Joanna Gilman Hyde 