The Hawk Portico 4:50pm
I’ve learned to latch onto Disappointments
with all the tenacity of a wild-haired dog
— then I beat Them up
with all The Greatness of My Life
& think of these let-downs as transient
substituted by going to The Hairdresser
now
instead of The Therapist
The Hawk Deck 2:22pm
The Crumpled Up Napkin
hovering over My Husband’s Dark Lunch Plate
set with galactic crumbs
looked to Me like God
on His Cloud
allowing Me to decide
to get My Hair done
once a week
The Hawk Deck 10:40pm
Dressed in My Warm Silver Robe
I have drunk the repletion
of My Life’s Waters so far
I am out on My Deck
on a windless morning
sun ablaze
I am in a haze
of happy Self
Note: written
while My Daughter happens to be
hunting
in Vermont
for one possible surviving copy
of My 364 page
Manuscript
The Hawk Deck 10:12am
How can One Sound
conjure up A Place
and A Time?
— It’s The Call Of The Jay
that does It for Me
That Authoritative Squawk
harkens back to My Childhood
growing up in The Woods
of Rockland County
where I was a bossy child neighbour
and control freak
to My Brother
The Hawk Deck 9:51am
I don’t kill Flies any-more —
if One’s in The House bugging Me
I try to catch It against a window
in The Palm of My Hand
I feel It beating against
My Fingers
until I let It go
outside
The Hawk Family Room 7:50pm
I wouldn’t normally write about laundry lines
but the ones around here
are so endearing
in their neatness
I am compelled to compose
right on the computer
to line up
the biggest towels first
then the hand towels
then all the innumerable
face cloths
and on one line
a copper-coloured sheet set
with pillow cases
spiral-patterned
The Hawk Deck 5:40pm
“I don’t know what to think
about Time.
I can’t put My Finger
on It.”
from a friend of Joanna’s
The Hawk Deck 2:22pm
I was raised on an after-school diet
of fairy tales
listened to
on My Mother’s record player
with British accents I absorbed
the lamentations
of The Little Mermaid
Cinderella
Snow White
& Sleeping Beauty
& wrote in My First Adolescent Diary
“Could He Be The One?”
The Hawk Deck 12:50pm
When My Husband’s at work
& it’s nice out
I put a place-mat
on My Wrought Iron Table
& sit in a folding chair
for My One Can Of Soup
from Our Endless Basement
Supply
The Hawk Deck 10:26am
Unlike The Indoor Cat
Who contemplates going out
and goes
but not for long
I have arrived at My Fate
and will stay here
in any kind of weather
because I’ve seen It coming
I’ve felt the pull of ecstasy
I am Set Up
to receive It
Open Armed
Open Legged
Joanna Gilman Hyde 