“I Heard A Bird Fly,”
declared an astonished visitor
to My Mother’s Island House
when I was eleven years old.
–
July 23rd 2012
I Live In The Land of Spirituality–
if I lie in My Bed
on the verge of depression
I am in Error
for I am eternally, rightfully happy
on My Deck or Portico
with Hunter and Eliza and The Cats
and The Birds.
The Jays of Valley Cottage
mix with The Crows of Nova Scotia
I could hear Them
before writing
but now that My Book is out
open on My Lap
I hear the swooshing of The Hedge
& guess The Next Bird To Be–
–I have no guess–
–I’m waiting to hear–
a car pulls into a driveway
a neighbour tinkers in His Shed
so I move to The South of The House
–to The Portico–
where Those Waves are a woosh
with Gulls more audible
& now too, a Jay
Today I Received
A Friend from Shelburne
Whose Voice of God
Directed Her
To Come See Me
She Is Back In My Life
Complete With God
Within Her — I Trust Her
She Is My New Friend
9:38
I See The Crescent Moon
tonight, setting
Outside My West Desk Window
9:40
I Have Never Watched The Crescent Set
I spied a pregnant woman
out behind Dr Blair’s office–
I was in My Car
in The Shade
an hour from My Pregnancy Test
which was negative
–
Dressed in Black & Red
She Shaded Her Eyes
& looked up at The Elm
where I married Dr Blair
in a ceremony
I care not to remember:
My Father
assigned to “give Me away”
called up the apartment stairs
for Me to hurry
and reluctantly doled out punch
while I sat
beside My Cake
Mrs Blair eats
Her rib-splitting bowl of spaghetti
while awaiting the return
of Dr Blair
and imagines Her Self
attending The Outdoor Concert
of all women singers
in Lockeport, Nova Scotia
next weekend
A Canadian Maple Leaf
is A Star
RED STAR
undulating
Above The Blue Horizon
Sitting on My Deck
In My Red Deck Chair
I Have The Sheets on The Line
& The World in My Lap
I Can Hear The Surf
& See The Blue Horizon
Hazed Over
Like My Open Globe
“What’s a Woman like You
doing in a Place like This?”
–Camera View: from back of black oven
w/ Woman looking in
leaning on elbows
–View to rivet My eight-year-old frame:
Black w/ White Star Spatter
How am I Here in this Black Space?
Now white with tomato spatter
from Eliza
in The Microwave
Joanna Gilman Hyde 