The Hawk Portico 3:00pm
The Signalling Call Of The Gull
Is To Alert Others
But That I Too Hear It
Must Mean, Momentarily,
That I Am In An Exchange
Of
Ear
And
Voice
The Hawk Portico 5:55pm
Another identifiable sound here
is the melodic fog horn
sounding now with no fog
in sight —
sounding every minute
at the 42nd second mark
of My Ladies Bulova Open Heart Watch
sounding, reverberating in the key of C or D
(according to Eliza)
for ten seconds at a stretch
but not drowning out the birds
The Hawk Portico 10:22pm
My Guess Is That Cats
Worry The Birds
At Nesting Time
Much Like Predatory Governments
The World Over
Disturb The Population
Of People Trying
To Make A Living
(And I Don’t Mean To Paint Cats Black)
The Hawk Deck 1:15pm
I Hear My Private World
squawking with an unidentified bird
atop the scraggly apple
waves resounding
just beyond the scrub spruce
the hedge is here, fluttering
with My Laundry on the line
& cats coming & going
from the shaded back deck
The Hawk Deck 1:15pm
I am on The Verge
of Something Big
drinking from The Cup of Life
watching rustling leaves
along The Hedge
with fog wafting past
opening out to Me
the interwoven
sustenance
of calling birds
& One
Steady
Fog
Horn
The Hawk West Desk Window 6:20pm
We’re going to have A Pet Gull
I bet
One stood beside The Deck
right after supper
so I threw Him a heel of My Bread
in torn-off pieces
He kept catching
in mid-toss
The Tomato-coloured Couch 8:22pm
I just saw A Bird
atop The Scraggly Apple
(had time to get the binoculars)
I could swear It had A Wing
Its Left Wing
& Tail
hammered out of Silver
like armoured plating
beneath Its iridescent plumage
The Hawk Window Seat 3:10pm
Through My Screened-in Window
I Catch The Lupine & Wild Rose
Out By The Roadside
Rarely Travelled
The Lull Of The Surf
Out Past The Cape
Eases Its Way Through
The Song Of The Birds
& The Intermittent Play
Of Our Sunny Breeze
The Hawk Deck 10:50pm
I ate My Banana Breakfast
standing in My Sun Hat & Pyjamas
watching The Ocean sparkle
through The Summer Haze
–
Off to My Left
I could hear The Surf
& Birdsong all around
ushering me in
to My Next Existence
The Hawk Portico 5:00pm
My House faces South
here on The Hawk —
a spit of built-up sand
growing only scrub spruce
& beach dunes
— grass does grow in My Yard
except for a barren spot
where We can park —
but yes, This Is Where
I have found such joy
in the sounds of The Birds
& The Waves — Waves
all the way around —
I hear Them to My Right Today
as I gaze to the blue horizon
to My Left
Joanna Gilman Hyde 