The Hawk Kitchen Outpost 7:52am
The Sea is black today
against a clouded sun
& I am supposed to get My Armature
to begin the sculpture
of a man who
refuses to die
The Hawk Queen Bed 12:45am
Against The Backdrop of Africa
I stood to walk in a circle
of Black Women
reaching out to Me
— They had never seen a white baby
before —
& against the backdrop of fishermen
I clomped in My Black Fisherman’s Boots
up the pavement
of The Sandy Point Fish Wharf
to drive My Mother’s parked
VW Square Back
back down to the Molly already unloaded —
the men had never seen
a girl from New York
arriving each summer
departing for school in the fall —
against the backdrop
of art school intellectualism
I stood out for My Big Ideas
going after The Top
falling in love
with The President of Cooper Union —
& marrying instead My Ticket
to Nova Scotia — having My 2.4
Children
with .4 ending up depicted
as a 3D red blotch
hanging in My Hawk Living Room
& now married to The Famous Dr Blair —
against the backdrop of Cape Sable Island
on the most southern tip of Atlantic Canada
I have become The Famous Artist
living in Nova Scotia —
a fish out of water
in Her Element
The Hawk West Desk Window 9:55am
Before The Dawn
Of Our New Era
We Are On The Cusp of Night
We Are Silver Now
As The Moon
As The Midnight Hour
Of Transformation
From The Golden Sun
Into That Precious Rarity:
Our Star-patterned
Future
The Hawk Living Room 4:30pm
A new arrangement of paintings
builds a triangle upon My Living Room Wall:
My Mother’s Portrait as a very young woman
painted by My Uncle
dresses the wall below My Balcony
hanging in the middle
above two impressionist paintings
of Africa — She took Me
as an infant to grow there
in Gabon and came home
with these two paintings
I framed in art school —
one showing a grass-roofed hut
palm trees with seated figure —
the other showing four bark canoes
and two figures readying them
in the foreground of open water
and open sky —
My First Year In Africa
She called The Worst Year
of Her Life — spent insomniac
underweight, pregnant
with My Fated Brother —
Africa inspired Her Novel
NOT EVEN THE MOON
never published —
Her Portrait looks down
to those two African paintings
and I look up to all three
Barrington Passage, NS 3:30pm
EYE have a piece
of The Night Sky
on My Right Middle Finger
My Trigger Finger
with The Silver Emblem
of a curve-sided diamond —
EYE am out
to make the sturdiness
of M(EYE) Self
Timeless
The Hawk Queen Bed 8:55pm
I have looked up
to see Orion
I have looked down
to see My Toes
painted Nordic Lights —
Tomorrow I get My Ring —
My Ring of Fire
bought with My Own Money
for I am That Child
Who must have Her Toys
& begs to be shown off
against Our Backdrop
of Disaster
The Hawk Kitchen 7:06pm
This 11th day of month 2:
Gold has achieved a three month rise
not met in thirty years
& I am celebrating
by taking My Spaghetti
out of The Oven
@ 10:22
The Hawk Dining Room 10:44am
I watch the roiling ocean
still ramped up
after My Halo Scene last night
when I demanded of My Husband
Does He Know What Kind of Person He Is Dealing With —
or not:
A Witch or An Angel
Who brought down
The Twin Towers
with a flower?
The Hawk Queen Bed 9:50am
Open This Door
Come Into My Delusion
You Are Welcome Here
With Me On A Mat
of Black Satin
Fuchsia Pillow Between
My Legs
Lay With Me
& I Will Tell You
My Life Story —
Oh How I Was A Child Once —
While We Both Smoke
Our Opium Haze
The Hawk Queen Bed 9:47am
When I paint My Staircase
glossy black
to lead up to My Canvas
titled “I Poured Out
My Black Heart”
I will be laying
the foundation
of sky on steps
to highlight the wafting
cat hair galaxies
stray stars
of dust
& every trace
of human
Joanna Gilman Hyde 