The Hawk Window Seat 6:30pm
I Am On Top Of The World
I Stand Tall
For My Humanity
For That Is All
I Am
That I Know Of
For Sure
For Sure There Is God
Because
I Have A Human Mind
The Hawk Queen Bed 10:22pm
What Is The Configuration
Of The Universe?
Is It Like A Balloon
With Us On The Surface
Or Is It A Sphere
Internally Filled —
Perhaps Expanding & Contracting?
Is It A Spiral
Lashing Out
Or A Doughnut
With No Center —
Is It A Drop Of Pond Scum
Or An Entire Sea
Floating In Our Minds?
The Tomato-coloured Couch 6:55pm
I live a privileged life
with a daughter in The Caribbean
& a son out West —
My Family is taken care of
& I am secure in My Wind-proof House
with seven well-fed cats
& a candle on The Living Room Table
The Hawk West Desk Window 6:18pm
Out My Eastward Kitchen View
I See The Moon, Almost Full
Completed By its Halo
Glowing Through The Deep Blue
Of Sky & Water
–
Out My West
I Catch The Berry Pink
Of One Side Of The Sunset
As I Write
Before Re-checking
My Lunar Scape
& Finding There
The Ocean
Set Apart
By Its Dark, Even Sheen
The Hawk Queen Bed 8:30am
Oh Beautiful Bird
You Are A Song
To Me
Your Fair Mimicry
Has Shaped My Life
And I Carry Your Love
On A Silver Platter
Out Into The World
So That It, Too
May Receive The Grace
Of Your Delicate
Truth
The Hawk Queen Bed 10:15am
I Am Blinded By
The Ocean Light Yet I See
My World Clearly
The Tomato-coloured Cock 9:22pm
(notes from an unscheduled meeting with an old psychiatrist)
“You’re just a very nice Lady Who lives in Shelburne –”
“Well, I don’t live in Shelburne anymore —
and do You know
what colour My Underwear is, Jimbo?”
“No, I don’t”
“It’s Red — Jimbo — Red Lace — and
do You know how many views I have
on My New York City Rooftop Painting?
three thousand, and twenty-two — what do I stand for Now?
“I don’t know –”
“I’m An American — Jimbo —
dressed here in Red, White and Blue
wearing My Pro-Life underwear —
and if You ever call Me a nice lady again
I’ll kick You in the balls”
The Tomato-coloured Couch 3:15pm
That Shower Of Silver Lights
My Shower
cleansed Me not of sin
but of all Darkness
ensuing from that stultifying depression
which was Its inevitable outcome —
I see Its Silver still
on The Ocean
I see It in My Daily Shower
I carry Its Light
free of burden
and transpose It
into
My Own Personal
Effulgence
Joanna Gilman Hyde 