August 5th, 2025
The Hawk Deck
8:26 am
Here Hear The Lull
of Surf:
an integral sound
along w/ Gulls’ distant clatter,
a Mourning Dove
& NO Excavator
@ a neighbour’s property —
Oh there goes an electric saw blade
somewhere 2 the North —
w/ a hammer too
butt Eye accept these tones
as they are not consistent
w/ M(eye) Treasured Swoosh
of Sea’s Edge
undulating @ The Doorstep
of M(eye) Cranial Ear
August 2nd, 2025
The Hawk Kitchen Outpost
11:11 am
M(eye) Very Tame Gull
started out on Peanuts
thrown from The Deck
& graduated 2 saying “breakfast”
(“brrk brrk”)
for a Piece of Bacon
while standing on The Rail, His Rail —
now He preens
& washes His Big Yellow Beak
in The Recent White Bowl of Water
splashing around like a kid
& knocking on M(eye) Sliding Glass Door
Opened This Gorgeous Morning
2 Let Him Inside
(if He so chooses)
WITHOUT The Invitation of FOOD
August 2nd, 2025
The Hawk Kitchen Outpost
10:22 am
On This Graceful Morn
Eye have Re- placed
The Light-catching Ornament
of Your Symbolization*,
dangling from The Crystal Stopper
dangling from The X-Miss Star
hanging sequentially
from M(eye) East Kitchen Window
2 Spark M(eye) Eyes
W/ Its Coloured Glint
Riveting M(eye) Composure
*note: ornament was removed for the umpteenth time again on the Morning of August 7th, 2025
August 2nd, 2025
The Hawk Deck
7:11 am
Eye Live & Love 2 sit in Starlight
emanating from Our Sun
out here on M(eye) Perfect Deck
hearing The Morning Surf
Up With The Gulls
(& Gully)
basking in sublime relaxation
under The Only Star That Matters
July 28th, 2025
The Hawk Kitchen
7:37 am
Gully has officially rejected
His Baked Beans for Breakfast
(albeit 12 years old)
in favour of His Old Standby
Dry Cat Food —
& He didn’t even eat
all of THAT
July 26th, 2025
Pine Grove Cemetery
Shelburne, NS
Eye just visited
M(eye) Brother’s Grave —
@ first Eye couldn’t find it —
low to the ground is the stone
etched w/ the first bar of Fur Elize
which Howard taught His Niece Eliza
about 25 years ago —
butt Time doesn’t matter
in a cemetery —
only the two scraps of red fabric
apparently blown from somewhere else
& settled in to either side
marking His Territory
until Eye next arrive
July 25th, 2025
The Hawk Deck
12:43 pm
Gully eats His Baked Beans for Breakfast
tentatively
& would rather
hold out
for Chunks of Cheese
on The Rail
or Really Go Wild
for a Piece of Bacon —
Do Eye Know M(eye) Gull
or What?!
July 23rd, 2025
The Hawk Deck
9:11 am
He Stands Stately
Upon His Rail
Preening, He Was
In Relaxation Mode
While Eye Sit
In An Adirondack Chair
Admiring Him
From A Distance Of 6 Feet —
He’s Had His Baked Beans
For Breakfast —
His Six Chunks Of Cheese —
The Cats Are Lounging —
One Under M(eye) Chair
W/ A Black & White Paw
Extended —
The Air Is Still
W/ Songs Of Other Birds —
Oh, How Eye Love Birds!
& Gully Preens Some More,
Sliding His Perfect Beak
Along The Shaft Of One
Little White Puff
In Order 2 Let It
Set Free
2 Float 2 The Arm
Of M(eye) Writing Chair
NOTE: Poem titled Two Evening Dresses
first appears in my 677 page manuscript titled NO BONES ABOUT IT, written before the inception of this blog, prior to April 2012. It is included here as reference for comparison to the following poem titled Two Dresses O’ mine
Two Evening Dresses
December 28th, 2009
The Shakespeare House
Shelburne, Nova Scotia
When I was 8 or 9
I went to Lord & Taylor’s
with My Mother & Granmama
to buy evening dresses
for My Mother’s Affair*
She chose a bubbling brown & gold chiffon
high-waisted
& a sleek black sleeveless
with silver accent trim
under the bust line
I was very happy for Her.
I never saw Those Dresses on My Mother —
They got put up in The Attic every summer
& after She died
The Black One fell apart
in a spray of black filaments
on the floor of Eliza’s bedroom closet
*the year-long affair w Bob Wilber,
jazz musician, who broke my mother’s heart twice when he got remarried to Joanne (Pug) Horton, seven years later.
Two Dresses O’ mine
July 19, 2025
The Hawk Deck
9:57 am
1 White (wedding)
1 Black (theatrical)
1 stored away in a basement garment bag
1 hanging in M(eye) Corner Room Closet
both costing originally $300.00 each —
The 1st: My off-white high-collared,
long-sleeved chiffon w/ floral hem
(hand-drawn prophetically in Jr. High)
worn for My Mother’s Show
2 Peter Lynn Haeghaert
38 years ago
stained now
w/ tiny brown specks
here & there
like The Baby’s Breath
I held
in The Wedding Portrait on M(eye) Fridge:
What Did That Wedding Mean 2 Me?
I do not remember eating The Cake
created by an artistic family of neighbours
in Jordan Bay —
I do not remember
feeling “Overwhelmed w/ Happiness” —
(perhaps I wasn’t)
I felt I was performing —
climbing into a rowboat
in “My Going Away” outfit
of green & white vertical striping
& red straw cap & pony tail —
married off 2 a capable gentleman
9 years My Senior —
2 be The Father
of M(eye) 2.4 Children —
Now 2 write of The Black Dress:
The Oprah Winfrey 50’s style —
full-skirted, elastic bodiced
3/4 sleeves
w/ silver buttons —
It was & is a dramatic dress
& Eye would wear It
dramatic upon The Tomato-coloured Couch
15 years ago
married 2 Dr Blair’s
ignorance…
These Two Dresses
are Opposites —
The 1st symbolizing
newness, freshness & innocence —
The 2nd symbolizing
daring, danger & mystery —
& Eye possess Both
Still —
right Gully?
Eva was asleep
So by the exit
The Lounge was full
of His Audience —
Elders in Their Wheelchairs
gathered, assembled
listening to “The Master of The Wind”
and “He Who Holds Tomorrow”
* poem to honour Eva’s Memorial Service today, four years after her death August 26th, 2021
Joanna Gilman Hyde 