The Hawk Kitchen Outpost 6:29pm
Our Back Yard houses
one lichen-covered Scraggly Apple
looking like a swath of coral
showing off any bird
deciding to perch there
by the deck
and beyond the kitchen
sliding glass door
from which I gaze
out to Our One-tree Yard —
source of My Undying Affection
The Hawk Queen Bed 7:36pm
I watched a crow peck
the remaining shepherd’s pie
from last night’s supper
The Hawk Kitchen Outpost 2:15pm
I saw a black-headed Grackle
atop My Scraggly Apple
as I put together
a shepherd’s pie
and stopped
to watch
His Darkness
against The Sky
The Hawk Kitchen Outpost 9:20am
This morning as I ate
My Banana
out by the bank
where I dumped My Dead
Christmas Tree —
I heard My Mother call
to Me —
“Good Morning, ” She said
Good Morning, Jogie –“
The Hawk Kitchen Outpost 8:28am
I wake to the sounds
of the ocean —
a distant Willet
and local gulls
It might be six
in the morning
but I am afforded
the luxury
of lying in bed
until 7:30
Eliza’s Room 7:30am
The Waves are subtle
from Eliza’s Room —
even the birds seem quiet
and I didn’t hear the crowing
of a neighbouring rooster
I saw yesterday
on My Way to The Guzzle —
I saw Him with His fine teal tail
and about four red hens
the next road over
from where I could see
the back of My House
and the new window
for where I sleep
The Hawk Queen Bed 9:36am
Yesterday I spent a solid
half hour binocularly focused
on a North American Flicker
scrabbling around in one spot
in Our Front Yard
near the driveway
where Hunter’s Secretary
was due to arrive
for a dinner date
She was a special guest
all right —
She drove in, in Her Husband’s Truck
and scared My Flicker away
She stood in Our Doorway
in all Her Glory
of lost 7o lbs
eyelash extensions —
a vision of red-crested delight
and boy was I focused
The Tomato-coloured Couch 5:12pm
I have just spent an hour at least
shielding My Eyes from the sun
to watch a flock of Starlings
starting in Our Yard —
heading across the street
in elongated splashes of sparkle
every time They took off —
and matted together on either
roof lines, grass or wires
in Their elusive group-think
I would give anything
to know
Clyde River, Nova Scotia 2:22pm
I pulled only half-way
off the road on Cape Island
to watch the biggest cloud
of Starlings I had ever seen –
they swooped, as a blanket
over my car & billowed
into a bare tree, decking it
with their blackness, leaf-like
& when they exploded
like fireworks
to mat themselves on overhead wires
I was entranced
Joanna Gilman Hyde 