The Tomato-coloured Couch 2:11pm
Nearly every morning
I gear up for My 4,000 Metre Row
on My Concept 2 Rowing Machine
with computerized clock:
My Columbia Shell Shorts
Sportex Sports Bra
Joe Fresh Sleeveless Grey Under-shirt
Anklet Sox from Eliza
& Old Nike Sneakers
make Me —
into The Basement I go
to put Classic Vocal Trance
on The Hulk (My Husband’s biggest computer)
& warm up with four rounds each
of personal exercises
I wipe down the C2 bar
on-which the seat slides
& strap My Self into the foot rests
I pull the handles
& focus My Vision on the in-out motion
of the chain
& watch The Clock
like a Hawk
for 11 Minutes & 22 Seconds
— take a clocked break upstairs —
— drink from My LIFE Glass —
& go back down to hit
22:22
The Hawk Queen Bed 9:00am
I hear the roar of The Cape
through Our closed bedroom windows
a deluge of rain last night
leaked through the front door
I’m sitting in bed
waiting for Hunter
to bring The Coffee
He’s already fed
The Cats
The Tomato-coloured Couch 7:22pm
I am sitting, aligned
with The Sun, a candle
& My LIFE Glass, The Earth
before Me, ahead of My Right Knee
orbiting My Oval Glass Coffee Table
I am in the outer reaches
of The Solar System
My Couch is an asteroid belt
& My Room, My Living Room
is The Universe
contained
in This
My
Mind
The Hawk West Desk Window 3:55pm
Women The World Over
sit on tomato-coloured couches
with wads of dough
between Their Legs
kneading to the rhythm
on The Radio
while Their Men
as handsome as They are
go down in The Basement
to work The Bowflex
The Hawk West Desk Window 2:22pm
Women The World Over
are feeding Lunch to Their Men
& cleaning up afterwards
while The Game’s still on
The Hawk West Desk Window 4:11pm
ICONIC POWER:
WESTERN FEMININE APPEAL
COLLIDES WITH ISLAM
The Hawk West Desk Window 11:45am
My Children live
in temporary housing:
Peak’s is an 8′ x 12′ cubicle
in a modular unit
furnished by Cenovus
in Alberta —
Eliza’s is a room in the basement
of a house owned by a single mother
5 minutes away from Acadia University
These are the rooms
meant for not much more than laying down One’s Head —
the private enclaves of worker and student —
These are the habitats of youth
on the move
on Their Way to achieving
some semblance of
permanance
The Hawk Kitchen 5:00pm
I Pledge Allegiance
To One Fat Cloud
Watched Out My Kitchen Window
Until It Shrinks From A Golden Swath
Into A Fluff Of Grey
and I lose it
The Hawk Window Seat 3:55pm
Silver-edged clouds sway
parting light to drowsy nap:
“Get Up, Make Some Tea!”
Joanna Gilman Hyde 