birds | Joanna Gilman Hyde

October 7, 2012

THE CHRISTMAS SURPRISE

The Hawk Red Deck Chair 12:15pm

Oh My God! — That’s My Mother

Telling Me To Write This Poem

— It’s The Chickadees

flitting around The Scraggly Apple

telling Me to write down

what I did one Christmas

in Cooper Union —

I asked My Unmarried Economics Teacher

to be a Christmas Present

for My Mother

& He said Yes!

so I wrote Mom a note

for Christmas Morning

that a Man was coming to visit

He came to Christmas Dinner

in Valley Cottage

— My Grandfather was there too —

now Pappy, The Teacher, My Mother, My Brother

are all dead

but The Chickadee-dee-dees

are alive

& chirping

3 Comments

October 6, 2012

BEAUTIFUL BIRD

The Hawk Kitchen 7:15pm

She was a beautiful bird —

I was lucky to be standing there

on The Deck

She landed near Me

in The Scraggly Apple

dove-like

with greyish wings

& peachy breast

Our Eyes Met

Her Friends Came

& took Her away

8 Comments

September 19, 2012

THE HERON

The West Desk Window 11:24am

I am luxuriating in The Full Viewing

of My Beautiful Bird of Paradise

I watch Him from My Vehicle

at the side of Hawk Point Road

My Neck craned to My Left

I gaze across Tidal Flats

at The Break in The Dunes

where Storm Waves wash in

small fry

for My Beautiful Long-legged, Long-necked Friend

Who wades so prominently

through One Grand Pool

to fish at Four Glorious Intervals

before I allow My Self

to finish driving home

to fix Lunch

1 Comment

September 18, 2012

THE FISHERMAN’S VISION

He steamed out 24 hours

not planning on coming back

when He cut the engine

& sat astern

testing the water:

“It was real to Me

I witnessed It

& same time I’m puzzled by It

I don’t see any reason

I shouldn’t tell It —

Some People may see a UFO

maybe They did

I thought about painting It

It’s so well embedded in My Mind

They don’t have to look like a seagull —

They weren’t

They weren’t a sea hag

They were sort of angelic like

down on the outside —

similar to a glow

20 feet away

2 on top 1 on the bottom

sea hags don’t hover

They were trying to send Me a Message

delicate hair, like angel hair

Something I can’t explain

but It happened”

September 17, 2012

CRY

The Hawk Deck 9:42am

I HAVE A CRY

discouraging Me from My Walk

along the Barrington Bay Trail

preventing Me from shopping

at Sobey’s

–

I HAVE A CRY

like The Crow’s Cry

efficient, timely

but MY CRY IS CAWT

1 Comment

September 15, 2012

OPEN SEASON

The Hawk Deck 8:45pm

duck hunting season is open

this sparkling morning — reverberating

gun fire crashing My Waves

— I’m sick for the flocks

trying to fly south

in order to survive

the winter

3 Comments

September 4, 2012

ANXIETY

We have One Cat

Who Catches Birds

It Breaks My Heart

Every Time I Pick One Up

Off The Deck

headless or legless

to throw down The Toilet

3 Comments

August 27, 2012

THE FOG SONG

The Hawk Deck 3:25

The Surf is rising —

I hear It beyond

the fog-wafted scrub spruce

to The North

–

It is calling Me:

The Waves surge through My Limbs

then subside

while I get My Breath

–

My Art is in My Pen

driven by My Surroundings:

today the breezy fog

accompanied by horns

low-pitched

meshes with a Chickadee’s chirp

as I relinquish all longing

& bask in My SELF

August 27, 2012

HAWK DECK NOTES

The Hawk Deck NOON

Yesterday The Ocean spoke to Me

& told Me to get up & write

Today it’s The Fog telling Me

to be quiet

–

1:00

I heard & saw one flock of Geese

flying south along the shore

& when I asked Hunter if

They could be going south already

He said, “Oh yes They are.”

–

1:10

I don’t care about

“Going Down In History”

I only care about

being a Living Legend

for The Time I’m In

–

1:52

There’s a Spider Web on The Edge

of This Book.

I have to get It off.

I will have to dismantle The Strand

& try to afix It to the little wrought iron table

next to Me.

–

Little Miss Muffet

sat on a tuffet

eating Her Curds & Whey

along came a Spider

& sat down beside Her

& frightened Miss Muffet away

–

Well, I got My Book back

2 Comments

August 18, 2012

SONG OF THE HUMMINGBIRD

To Sing The Song of The Hummingbird

I write to say I Saw One Today

buzzing in Our bedraggled Apple

& finding Nothing There

buzzed away beyond The House —

I may never see Its Greenness again

What would Its sight portend?

–

I drove with Eliza

& Her First Serious Boyfriend Tyler

to La Creamy Treat in Pubnico

on The Highway Home

Two Flying Objects hit the wind shield

Eliza, driving, pronounced “I killed

Two Hummingbirds with One Car –”

Tyler, from The Back Seat

resolutely announced “I saved

A Hummingbird caught in a Spider Web”

3 Comments

Tag: birds