The Hawk West Desk Window 4:11pm
I have A Voodoo Pain
at the inside of My Left Upper Arm
It’s telling Me to Right Write
telling Me to leave My Tea
telling Me to describe The Pain:
“It’s Itchy, Man!”
pulsating
not now, not now, not now
is It gonna happen again?
I do want My Tea
I’m gonna go get It —
(came back)
NOW — The Pain came again!
but what am I supposed to Right
— how silly — to be Writing
about Righting
ooh — again!
It’s My Left Upper Arm, Near My Elbow
It’s a panging itch
lasts about a second —
–
If I could Write anything
what would I Write Right Now?
ooh — It came
what would I Write without losing My Audience?
Only That Which I Am Capable Of Knowing:
My Self
I Write about My Self All The Time
I Love My Self
but I see My Self as only Half —
–
I went to the bathroom
& The Pain continued
I think It’s telling Me
to keep Writing:
I have another Half
in The Form of A Little Man —
I’m gonna make another Cup Of Tea
–
I’m back
My Rings were on the sink
I put Them on
I Love My Rings
They’re Mine
They have no Halves
I let in My Black Cat
Astro Jasper Cosmo
He’s All Mine
though My Husband Loves Him Too
My Tea is steeping
I haven’t felt another Voodoo Pain
I’ll go check My Tea
Look at all the “I’s”
going Write down this page!
The Hawk Queen Bed 10:00pm
I Know What
is going to happen
I Know What
is happening
I Know What is Going
to happen
I Know What
is happening
(arms bent up & out to the sides
head facing up)
We Are Ushering
in a new era
We Are Ushering In
The New Age
The Hawk Living Room 5:40pm
“Life Springs Eternal”
from My Fingertips
surrounding My Candle Holder of beer, now,
I am drawn into Golden Bubbles
countless
like The Stars
so why try to count —
Who The Hell Cares
as long as You can
drink Them in
& take That Star Juice
into Your Own Body
for the makings
of Men & Women
Children & Pets?
The Hawk Queen Bed 3:00pm
I’m still in bed, in My Pyjamas
& it’s three o’clock in the afternoon
This condition is ostensibly due to sleep deprivation
from last night when I stayed up too late
fooling around with My joannagilmanhyde web address —
It didn’t get corrected until this morning
with My Husband’s help before work
but I wasn’t able to catch up on the sleep
despite taking an Ativan —
as You may have gathered
My Beauty Sleep relies entirely on pills
& regular routine —
any break in the pattern
& I’m shot for the day
–
personal note: My Daughter Eliza just phoned
that She’s got a summer job at Shelburne’s Osprey Arts Center
The Hawk Kitchen 8:08pm
What does The Sky look like
to Juvenile Joanna
sucking Her Right Thumb
but NOT twiddling Her Hair
(It was in braids)
This Sky out the East Kitchen Window
looks like oatmeal
–
From The West Desk Window
The Sky looks like striated years
representing decades
of living, & nearly dying
of having two babies
& losing the third
of having grown children
having no more mother, no father
a second loving husband
& a house from which
to watch The Clouds
The Tomato-coloured Couch 9:15pm
We Wear Our Minds Outside Our Selves:
if Our Hair is Frazzled
We have gone miles
in open wind
–
if Our Bellies are Big
We have gorged Ourselves
on Great Ideas
left under The Table
–
if We Smile
Our Contentment
may mean Our Wanderings
have lead Us
to Our Ends
–
if We Laugh
We are revealing
Our Most Primitive Selves
in defiance
of the psychiatric labels
for which We were sent away
The Tomato-coloured Couch 6:11pm
I had to interrupt cooking supper
to write about laying out
four plastic Canadian fifties
for My Daughter’s allowance
allowing enough for a sports bra
to buy on a trip to Halifax
with Her Boyfriend
— $200.00 bucks flat out —
I was struck by the recollection
of a roll of American twenties
wadded into My Starving Palm
counted out in the bathroom
of a Japanese Piano Bar in New York:
— $200.00 bucks tootsie-rolled
into a promise to be taken
to Korea to do an art project
but delivered in a Waldorf elevator
with the push
to accompany The Korean Minister of Defence
into His Room
where all I could do
was to declare
in plain English:
“There has been some mistake.”
The Hawk Basement 3:30pm
I have two poems
swirling around in My Head:
The First represents The Shadow of a trinket
bauble, gem, charm, jewel
cast upon My Basement Wall
to the immediate right
of My Rowing Machine’s Arm
It is The Configuration
of a diamond ring
tipped to the right
& out from underneath It
falls, clatters
a rain of darker pieces, shapes
of raw concrete
spilling to the floor
meeting the extension of The Shadow
cast by the elongated arm
–
The Second is of My Mother & My Daughter:
While I was driving to pick up My Daughter
The Shadow of My Mother took over, briefly
& the car in front of Me
held My Daughter’s initials
& I, as Mother & Daughter
was The Bridge
I am The Bridge
The Hawk Kitchen 7:50pm
I have drunk My First Beverage
W–A–T–E–R
from My Chalice Divine
standing before My Dramatic Sky
of heavy mauve cloud
& Illuminated Gull
reaching around
to the sea-view
Joanna Gilman Hyde 