Joanna Gilman Hyde

"Good Morning, World!"

REPOSING

I’m lying on My Tomato-coloured Couch

— did I say It’s very comfortable?

Looking up at My Crow Painting

— I need My Glasses —

The Living Room Window is Open

to The Southerly Waves

at My Head

with Eliza’s Horse Blanket

over The Rest

ANXIETY

We have One Cat

Who Catches Birds

It Breaks My Heart

Every Time I Pick One Up

Off The Deck

headless or legless

to throw down The Toilet

FROM THE HAWK BED

Am I going to have to leave

The Island House

for one more winter?

There are still no buyers

spiders have taken over

Who will ever live out there?

–

 WHB just said, “You’re not in any place

where the bad things happened.”

–

 Will We keep The Island

in case the power goes out

here on The Hawk?

Will We load up Our Cans

& Sleeping Bags

& boat for The Solace

of That Place so loved

by My Mother

& Me?

SUNDAY MORNING

The Hawk Deck 8:40am

The Morning Sky is Silver

as I heed the wealth

of My Surroundings

–

The Surf is shushing Me again

while My Teacup steeps

My Husband sleeps

I assess the coolness of The Wind

–

9:40am

The Surf is Louder Now

It Wakes Me Up

To The Silver Streaks & Pools

across The Ocean

My Husband is Up

& We’re Having Coffee

–

11:40am

A Pair of Jays have come

to The Straggly Apple by The Deck

Others Join Them

so I have My Flock of Jays

Who squawk out My Growing Up

as They All fly off:

“You are in The Childhood

of Your Maturity

Here On The Hawk”

WHAT IS MY PREMISE?

Did God create The Dragonfly

to fly out of nymph-hood Today

of All Days?

Or has The Dragonfly created Itself

over eons

to emerge from arbitrary randomness?

–

I have been answered

by swarms of midges

screaming out to Me

for recognition

SEPTEMBER FIRST, 2012

The Hawk West Desk Window 8:15am

Nobody knew how much

I longed for Those Pet Store Love Birds

except My Mother

as I begged Her to buy Them

for forty dollars in 1970

I had My Heart Set On Them:

all She said was

What If One of Them Dies?

–

8:35am

Two Years Ago We Awoke

to Our First Morning Here On The Hawk

It seems so long ago

I can’t remember:

was it The Still, Glittering Day

We are having Now

with Our First Cup of Coffee in Bed

& Our Second on The Deck?

Or was I frantically unpacking?

I can’t remember

MORNING BATH

The Hawk Deck 7:52am

The Sun is in The Ocean

blazing off The Horizon

I hear no waves

only the repetition

of a nearby Crow

CAW CAW

He is preening Himself

in between

CAW CAW

DANCE OF ETERNITY

I see My Self

in a Room of White

twirling rapidly in a diaphanous gown

such as I drew in My Childhood

My Arms are grasping

across my Chest

to make Me spin faster

& My Hair is long again

flailing out around Me

like a halo

I am dancing The Dance

of Eternity

for The World

to see

I am an audience

of One

 

LANDING

The Hawk Deck 5:30

Fall Has Risen

as I sit on The Breezy Deck

in 16 degrees Celsius

having, rejoicing

in My Brain’s Capacity

To See The Future

& To See The Future

in physical terms

I am no longer waiting

I am @ The Time of Arrival

Landing

On My Solid Ground

of ambiguity

 

NOON IN THE REAL WORLD

I just woke from a Gravol-induced Dream:

Out on a brick terrace

I was being interviewed

by a Keith Haring Type

about My Life so far

& My Artistic Intentions

Suddenly I Stood Up

wearing a long white billowy robe

I declared —

“THIS IS WHAT I WANT TO DO”

I walked over to a vacant section

& The Keith Haring Guy said “I Know —

You Want To SAVE”

I turned to Him & explained “No —

that word has been overused —

I have a lot of problems with that word

which I wont go into now.  This

is what I want to do — ”

I raised My Arms up to the tree limbs

& sky above Me & I began to spin

I spun so fast, faster and faster

that I became a spinning top

as I chanted:  Organize Organize Organize

until I felt I was turning into a Gyroscope

–

The first definition of the verb to Organize

in My Mother’s 1971 Random House Dictionary:

1.  to form as or into a whole

consisting of interdependent or coordinated

parts, esp. for harmonious or united action.