Joanna Gilman Hyde

September 23rd, 2025

Campeche, Mexico

12:20 pm

Her older face was broad

& brown

w short graying hair

chopped off in back

in rows close to her head —

She wore a red tee shirt dress

w brocade in black

around her bodice

w a rhinestone enclosure

missing most of its stones —

Her smile was full

as She talked openly

to Eliza, glancing at me:

how dark-haired women

want blond hair

& blonds want dark —

I wanted to photograph

this authentic relic

of a Mexican Woman

but Eliza discouraged me

explaining that it might seem as if

I would be making a spectacle

September 19, 2025

Campeche, Mexico

9:08 am

I’ve taken to a morning swim

short breast strokes in Eliza’s pool

before my breakfast of guacamole

from her tree of avocados

that may or may not

fall cracked into a chlorine bath —

after yesterday’s swim I watched

fascinated

as a herd of tiny ants

moved a tiny dead lizard

from one corner to another

eventually dropping the carcass down

the far side of the pool’s flat edge —

I watched each ant

exchange the weight

of tail, legs, torso

frantically in step

latched onto their precious load —

me caring not to witness

the lizard’s final destination

after the drop of what must have seemed

a cliff-side fall

onto surrounding gravel

where all hell broke loose

as the team of tiny ants

scattered, retreated

& I gave up my watch

September 18th, 2025

Campeche, Mexico

8:09 am

I just attempted to squish

a mosquito

noticed in Eliza’s bedroom

visible against her walls of Chikoom

(or however you spell it)

& landed my aim

precisely clapping the bug

mid air

only to open my grip

& have her, the mosquito,

fly quickly unsquooshed

down the little shadowed hall

to Eliza’s open bath

The Hawk Deck

September 13th, 2025

8:47 am

Eye sit in The Stillness

of M(eye) clear & quiet Morning

w a flying insect

positioning Himself

@ the level of M(eye) Hat —

He Hovers — I’ve seen Him

rub His dangling legs together

perhaps in glee

before zooming off

only 2 return

2 examine Me

The Hawk Deck

September 13th, 2025

8:00 am

Gully’s Chick, His Offspring

is alone on M(eye) Backyard Grass

bleating His squeaky bleat

full grown butt brown.

He’s been on The Deck

several times already,

eating Gully’s Baked Beans for Breakfast

butt today He’s on His Own,

as Eye am

alone with no Parents

too far grown into Life

2 be in Their Company.

September 2nd, 2025

The Hawk Deck

10:40 am

Eye live alone on a Magnificent Island

like M(eye) Mother did

on McNutt’s Island

in Shelburne Harbour —

only this place —

The Hawk, Cape Sable Island —

is @ The End of The Earth

(nearly)

The Furthest Point South

in Eastern Canada:

a long line of beach

w/ low scrub spruce

alders & ferns

stretching down

into The Atlantic

complete w/ M(eye) House of Art

The Scraggly Apple

Gully The 3rd

& 3 elderly Cats

leftover

from a now abandoned

marriage