Dr Blair wrote to me
that he loved my toes —
what about the rest of me?
Where is he now?
And whose toes is he after
23 years later?
Two of my favourite sounds:
Rain & Ocean Surf —
The sounds of water
in motion.
Last night Eye had a Coors Edge
at an outdoor cafe
in Shelburne
where Eye sat for hours
to take in the sights
of traffic and people —
Today Eye went out
to The Cape —
the three-mile long
spit of stone and sand, white sand
& green dunes
upon which is anchored
the one hundred foot high Cape Light
which shines
into my bedroom window —
out there upon its tree-less wilderness
Eye saw an orange butterfly
heading somewhere
& found a beverage can
faded to its aluminum sheen
& saw a one-legged man
sun bathing with an artificial leg
propped up against his beach chair.
There’s a line of light
beyond the scrub spruce
jutting against the monochromatic sky
which Eye could paint
if Eye painted that way —
butt Eye paint with found objects
abstractly
and the view Eye behold
is painted in M(eye) Mind
Selling my mother’s book
at the Western Nova Scotia
Exhibition Eye have seen
many kinds of people
in time to the music
including a Mexican family tending
an adolescent in a wheelchair
who was fed sips of water
in time to the music
as his father listened
to The Mariachi Band
& fanned his son
with a towel
in time to the music
as the painted Senoritas
flounced their wide red skirts
in time to the music
& a very young girl watching
bounced herself around
in time to the music
& Eye watched
an Indian woman in Red & Gold
dance for an imaginary lover
in time to the music
Eye carry the grief
of My Unborn Daughter
and how sweet
to know She still lives
inside the glass of water
Eye filled with Her Napkin
at the time of my tears
upon Her Appearance
to me in a church
in Middle La Have
on a night in December
when She came
with Her Name
Eye took off my favourite sandals
at two different walkways
today:
first beside the long blue ribbed plastic
carpet roll
of Stoney Island Beach —
the long and graceful expanse
of surf and people
on the east side of Cape Island —
the second was at the little boardwalk
to the more rugged Hawk Beach
right where Eye live
with The Guzzle at one end
and slightly irregular sand declevities
undulating along its familiar stretch
partially used as nesting ground
by the endangered Piping Plovers —
Eye walked these two white sand beaches
today
in my aloneness
and even went for an ice cream cone
inbetween
Eye still have Gully
fed on dry cat food
& infrequent pieces of bacon
He meanders around the cats
unafraid
on the deck
& flies off somewhere
w/ the regular gulls
@ dusk
With a confusion of bracelets
upon My Left Wrist
and double watches on My Right
Eye gesture to My Mother’s Book
McNutt’s Island Journal
and put forth My Sales Pitch
to anyone who will listen
This evening is beautiful
mild & quiet
butt Eye will not be walking
on the beach
as that would exemplify
M(eye) aloneness
which Eye am finding hard
to bear
Oh to be Gully
sitting, standing, on the deck rail
preening & stretching
He doesn’t care
that He is alone —
Oh, He just flew off
Joanna Gilman Hyde 