Joanna Gilman Hyde

November 8th, 2025

The Hawk Utility Room

5:25 am

Yesterday Eye attended

The Funeral of A Mother

Eye had never met

& listened to the proper bravery

of One Son (Eye had never met)

standing at The Podium

where “The Old Rugged Cross”

was sung out

by The Forthright Voice

of The Man Eye know only

as Our No Frills Produce Manager —

an Officiating Gentleman

spoke of None of Us

being free from SIN

& had Us pray

for The Mother’s Commital.

The Coffin was black

w/ hammered silvery adornments

enthroned by a floral spread of blue & white —

She had Died At Home

as was Her Wish.

Outside, beside the hearse

Her Other Son, My Neighbour

kindly commanded Me

to give Him a “squeeze”

(a bear hug for He is big & bearded)

& Eye could not even ask Him

if He had found My Card

placed on a windshield

(as soon as Eye found out) —

Eye could not utter a single word

while He pronounced

w/ Me in His Arms:

“I hope You are well —

I really do…”

*There loped A Dog of White in the parking lot of milling mourners, the sight of which inspired this poem.

November 3rd, 2025

The Hawk Kitchen Outpost

6:25 am

From My Hawk Kitchen Outpost

Eastern Window

cleaned after the weekend remains

of Hurricane Melissa —

Eye can see the full spread

of Early Dawn:

1st The Little Lights

of one neighbour

(whom Eye haven’t met yet)

down by the shore —

then The Little Twinkle

of a planet

(Eye don’t even know which one)

& when its light is obscured

by the fringe of a grey cloud

Eye can have the orange glow

(more 2 The North)

of “Twilight’s First Gleaming”

heralded by a huge splatter

of spread-out cloud

padded pink

above the silhouetted line of scrub spruce

laid against My Swath of Sea

(also obscured)

October 31st, 2025

The Hawk Green Chair

12:30 pm

My Emblem of Grief —

My Giant Black Cat

“ASTROPITHICUS”

is buried in Port Clyde

@ My Kids’ Grandparents’ House

now sold —

He was marked only by a White Star

on His Chest

& now by several unremarkable stones

laid by Eliza

amongst dry brush

@ the edge of the high ground

overlooking The Clyde River Shore —

The Anniversary of His Death

came this year

unnoticed by me

until It had passed

by several days —

October 13th, 2022

when Astro had a morning spasm

as He lay for the last time

on the lime-green cushion

of My Grandmother’s Wrought Iron Chair

stationed @ My Hawk Kitchen Outpost —

Eye remember My Green-eyed Pet

w/ all my endless fondness

held for Him alone

& no matter whether Eye visit His Bones

devoid of The Big Black Stone

planned butt not placed

on His Grave no longer owned

always will Eye remember

ASTROPITHICUS:

The Biggest Black Panther —

The Biggest, Hugest, Sleekest

Most Beautifulest Black Panther

In The Whole Wide World ––

2 Come Out of The Wilds of The Hawk —

W/ The Cute Lil’ Vampire Toofies!

October 22nd, 2025

The Tomato-coloured Couch

2:35 pm

This Morning Sometime

Eye watched M(eye) Neighbour’s Yard

fill 2 the brim

w/ countless Starlings —

Their Brown & Black

flitting around as They pecked

the grass & cut-off rough stuff —

& as Eye watched Their Full Embrace

some, a percentage,

made Their way 2 M(eye) Yard

& Eye delighted in Their Attraction

pecking hardily

for whatever Eye had 2 offer

until They swooped up —

one after the other —

2 the electric lines

perching momentarily

& then suddenly cloud-like

The Whole of M(eye) Starling Flock

spread Itself so gracefully

engulfing the expanse of M(eye) Rooftop

over

& back

in bulbous formation

above neighbouring rooftops

until They vanished

somewhere below

October 15th, 2025

The Hawk Front Portico

12:15 pm

Oh Happy Birthday!!

Eye am Living

for M(eye) Precious Gubba Goo

born 31 years ago

@ 9:04 pm

lifted out of an inflatable tub

@ The Queens General Hospital

Liverpool, Nova Scotia

blonde & happy

(& looking like M(eye) Aunt Angie*)

Treasured by Her Father

Adored by Her Brother

Created by Her Mother

2 B The Woman Who Could Do Anything

(butt She had 2 B Beautiful)

& She Came Out 2 A Tee!!

*The Late Angie Hyde Bjorklund, Santa Barbara, California — my father Francy’s older sister & 2nd daughter to Bobby Hyde

October 15th, 2025

The Hawk Kitchen Outpost

7:00 am

2 Lights on M(eye) Horizon

w/ a 3rd way over 2 The East

@ The Break of Dawn —

The Sky is low

w/ an orange streak

@ The Waterline —

Eye can see The Lights pulsate

1 near, 1 far

& The 1 over 2 The East

is stable, stationary

fainter behind The Scrub Spruce

silhouetted

in the fore

October 1st, 2025

Campeche Mexico

10:30 am

Up before Eliza at 7:00 am

I raked the leaves

around her pool

in preparation for our departure

& rather than try to squeeze

my sweating hips & boobs

into the new bathing suit

she bought me at the Mexican Walmart

I took off my clinging nightshirt

& stepped bare-assed

into her cool solution

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