The Hawk West Desk Window 10:11pm
When My Husband Holds My Left Forearm
I Am In The Child’s Embrace
I Must Grow Up Into My Self
& Be The Woman Now
Without My Mother, The Single Parent
for I had no father
The Hawk Family Room 4:49pm
My Daughter Eliza handed Me
the tail end of a smoothie
strawberry froth
lining the bottom of a glass
I slurped the remnants of berry seeds
and minuscule bubbles
leaving a spherical star-scape
tilted toward the sun —
a pink piece
of The Universal Puzzle
May 1st The Hawk Queen Bed 10:05pm
The First, five feet by seven, hung illuminated
like a single flame
in a New York City Rug District Window —
I gasped and gaped and walked inside
whereupon an alert salesman
showed Me The Larger Companion lying flat —
a Chinese carved nine by eleven
solid red
He said I could have Both for Two Thousand Dollars
Now Where Was A Starving Artist
in 1985
going to get Two Thousand Dollars to spend
on the double richness of wool from China
for an apartment barely big enough to accommodate one rug?
Her only job was working in a Japanese Piano Bar
where She diluted Chivas Regal with water and ice
and lit Japanese Business Men’s cigarettes
for an hourly wage of ten tax-free dollars
until two in the morning six nights a week
At this job She was expected to converse
and to Her Advantage She spoke of Her Art Projects —
one completed on the roof of The Commodities Exchange Building
of The World Trade Center
and Her Next Project:
A Bracelet for The Statue of Liberty
for The 1986 Centennial of New York’s Present from France —
One Very Nice Business Man Named Yoshi
handed over a check for Two Thousand Dollars —
with no expectations —
This Check burned Its way into cash
and when Joanna was informed by The National Parks Department
that there was no way in Hell She would be allowed
to put The Bracelet, yet to be made, ON The Arm
She decided to do something She wasn’t accustomed to doing:
She gave up Her Project
bought the rugs
and slept on Them in Her Bedless Studio Apartment
on St. Mark’s Place
Lower East Side of Manhattan
The Hawk Kitchen 10:22am
I watch the thorough glitter
out on The Water
through The Window Screen
(it’s too windy to sit outside)
My Husband’s Blood Pressure
is precarious
making Me jittery
while He’s at work
refusing to see HIS Doctor
Shelburne, NS 12:30pm
Take The Power
That Is Yours
From Your Hair
Your Dress
Your Silver Jewellery
–
Take The Power
From Your Mind
Your Dreams
Your Aspirations
–
Look To The Sky
What Birds Do You See?
Are They Black Or White
& What Does That Mean?
The Hawk West Desk Window 7:36pm
I wore My Blue Nose Dress
red sleeveless top, blue skirt
with white linear arrows appliquéd
on front, pointing up
— or were they pointing down?
It was The Outfit I remember
of all My Childhood Ferry Crossings
driven from Valley Cottage, New York
by a sleep-deprived Mother
to Bar Harbour, Maine’s Blue Nose Port
— with a younger Brother I barely remember —
driven and ferried every summer to Nova Scotia
The Province I would stay in
all My Adult Life —
married twice
with the lives & death of My 2.4 Children —
to live in old houses
on an island
on the mainland in woods named Atlantic
in an historic town named Shelburne
in a doctor’s big white castle in Barrington Passage
& now a new house
— new island —
on the point farthest south:
The Hawk, Cape Sable Island
where My Second Husband sleeps
on low blood pressure
while maintaining His high pressure job
taking care of nearly half the population
this end of the county —
and what do I do?
I am a housewife —
The Laziest In The World
according to My Daughter
& I Write To Tell The World
The Hawk Deck NOON
The Grey-robed Figure
spirited out of bed at 11:00
takes Her Tea out to The Deck
assesses Her Timing
of This Morning’s Flirtation
with Depression
marked by Her Son’s Imminent Departure
for which She is cancelling
The Last Supper
The Hawk Queen Bed 9:40pm
I hear The Waves
My Backdrop to The Peepers
with My Husband’s Warm Hand
across My Left Arm
I am in My Cradle
My Bassinet
I will lie here
until
I die
