The Hawk Living Room 6:30pm
note: refer back to poem titled “Candle Holder”
I bought My Chalice today
in Yarmouth
It is a Candle Holder
It is frosted
It says in black “Life
is not measured by
the number of breaths we take,
but by the moments
which take our breath away.”
I bought It at Wall * Mart
I could drink Scotch out of It
The Hawk Living Room 1:45pm
I am sitting in a beam of sun
in a velvet chair
anything can happen here
in My Mind
any thought can be unleashed
with or without choice:
How do I know
I am deliberately
recalling
the total lack
of sun
in The Yarmouth Psychiatric Unit?
The Tomato-coloured Couch 8:00pm
My Mother told Me I couldn’t carry a tune
so She put Me in a crinkly black tutu
& expected Me to dance
I was the clumsy conundrum
My Teachers couldn’t figure out
I was Cinderella in French
& Teacher’s Pet in Junior High Science
I didn’t like High School
with One Peculiar Friend
Who wanted to get high
at lunch
My Mother put Me into Her College —
a small liberal arts school in up state New York
where I took all the art I could get
& transferred into Cooper Union in New York City
After graduating I decided
to paint the most visible roof in the world:
#5 World Trade Center
& was given permission by The Port Authority of NY & NJ
In 1984 I signed My Name
to the ten-thousand square-foot canvas
in three-foot high letters
I wore a crinkly black skirt
filmed by German Television
& three decades later
is on You Tube
The Tomato-coloured Couch 6:43 pm
Should I feel guilty eating
a steak sandwich in front
of My Nearly Vegan Daughter
Who exploded into tears
when I told Her
She didn’t have to go to University
to learn Sociology?
Barrington Passage, NS 2:22pm
I’m sitting in a Doctor’s Office
One of The Safest Places
in The World
or is It?
Here I am given a little green pill
to ward off anxiety
about The World at Large
I have had My Talk
& My Walk
but continue to feel
a shadow
of uneasiness
The Tomato-coloured Couch 4:38pm
I slept ’till noon
to make up for nightly sleep-deprivation
& got out of bed @ 2:00 this afternoon
to make up for a wasted day
of gathering together the garbage
for garbage day tomorrow
I got showered and dressed
to be presentable for Eliza’s boyfriend
& sat on the portico
to talk on the phone
to an artist friend near Chicago
when above My Front Yard
flew The Graceful Long-legged Heron
slowly traversing the air
above My House
& the heaviness of bed-lying
was long gone
The Hawk West Desk Window 10:00pm
I believe I will live
to tell the story of My Death
& not the murky recitation
of past relatives
& misty shores
I will live to tell
of nightly dreams
coalescing
into daily performance
the history of which
enshrouded
by My Veil
of Truth
will come to My Listeners
as no surprise
The Hawk Deck 12:40pm
I have been called to write
by the high urgency
of The Willet
here in My Sanctuary
The Call of The Wild
alerts Me to The Strife
of Humanity
I know exists
but from which
I am graciously
exiled
The Tomato-coloured Couch 6:45pm
Look Out Children
‘cuz here I come
to colour Your World
in Pink & Gold
from Horizon to Horizon
I’m here to show You
True Blue
the ancient cauldrons
of desire
for leadership
of decades
aeons
The Tomato-coloured Couch 6:35pm
In the privacy of My Living Room
I summoned in My Favourite Song
standing below the skylights
I held My Arms up
& out to the sides
I elevated My Hands
reaching
a higher pitch
The Song flowed through Me
& I Was It
I Was It
Joanna Gilman Hyde 