The Tomato-coloured Couch 7:15am
I Am A Bird In A Cage
not the green & red Sam
when I was a Child
I Am A Single Green & Red Love Bird
unnamed
Whose Mate Has Died
as My Mother was afraid He would
The Hawk Kitchen 11:15pm
I just saw that Buzzard Bird again
surveying My back yard
just as I was thinking I will never
go out to the island again
wondering why I have lost My appetite
sitting by the radio
in My grey bathrobe
I am indispensable
I need care
The Hawk Queen Bed 9:31am
I have woken up to My House in a mess
Eggplant Parmesan has gone uneaten
kitty litter litters Our Bathroom
& has scattered down The Stairs
— it’s The Weekend —
there’ll be no carpenters to work
on Hunter’s Library
but He’s making coffee for Me
I have a window open
& can hear a first bird
of Spring
–
10:30am
The Golden Arches Lay
flattened by last week’s wind
crumpled slightly on the lot
of McDonald’s in Barrington
turned upside down
at closer range
I see Their configuration
as the cartoon drawing
of dangling tits
–
10:42am
My Black Journal lays
on My Lap against My Bare Legs
I’m still in My Black Nightgown
with Black Underwear
My Titties are contained
in a Black Sports Bra
I have drunk My Coffee
& Hunter is Up
eating His Sticky Buns
Canada Day 2011 The Hawk
This is a New Book
This Book is So New It
Has Not Even Been
Thought of
Yet…
It is NOT about any Living or Dead
People
or animals
or plants
or planets
It is about a Great BIG YAWN
A YAWN WHICH GOES
ON
&
ON
&
ON
& never stops. Oh, & did
I mention The Yawn never
STARTS, either(underlined)?
The Yawn has a Companion:
The GREAT BIG FART
a FART SO BIG IT FILLS
the Entire Universe
& Beyond, if there is
a Beyond
The FART HAS A START
Like The Sneeze that
follows:
The SNEEZE that blows
away the Yawn (even
though I said It never
Stops) a sneeze which
blows away the FART
which clears
the AIR
To Make Room, since
there is an endless supply
of Room — The Sneeze
has to push away all
the other crap engulfed
by The Yawn & The FART
to make Room for
THIS(underlined):
The Great Big
seemingly Eternal
(though who knows —
who thinks there’s
any such thing as
Eternity?)
The Sneeze makes Room
for: The Great Big
seemingly Endless
Huge
Sigh
of
Relief —
a sigh of Relief
not Heard,
not Seen,
but
Felt,
felt beyond the
outer reaches of
The Universe
in fact,
becoming the
preliminary
establishment
of
Every Thing &
Nothing &
more eternal YAWNS
FARTS
etc.
The Tomato-coloured Couch 8:10pm
My Mother sat in Her brown & gold
champagne bubble evening dress
empire-waisted
listening to Her clarinet-playing married Lover
in The World’s Greatest Jazz Band —
I stayed baby-sat
until
Her Bubble Burst
upon My nine-year-old shoulders
The Christmas I begged
for a pair of green & red
Love Birds
The Hawk Deck 11:48am
My Brother had a Magic Pendant —
have I written of It before?
He asked It Yes or No
Questions
& told His Fortune
but We don’t have It now —
It was Our Mother’s —
heavy hand-wrought Silver
with A Bird on one side
Rose on the other
The Hawk Kitchen 5:00pm
What Is This Language
of What I Perceive?
A Crow alighting on a tree tip
then flying BACK
to where He came from
but that was a while ago
I hear The Fridge
I see The Silver on My Wrists
A Cat who’s very fat
is unable to clean Her Butt
I remember My Brother
gulping down pop or tea
as if He couldn’t get enough
I do the same
The Hawk Dining Room 2:22pm
In My Sleep This Morning
One Line came to Me
but I was too tired
to write It down:
“My Love Is As Deep As An Unsung Well”
Here It Is Penned
At This Time
while I spoon My Christmas Turkey Soup
out of a big black cup
Joanna Gilman Hyde 