Down On The Hawk Beach 4:15pm
I am sitting beside a rock
and Oh not just any rock —
it’s a rock the size and shape
of a giant brain tumour,
brown and cut apart at the edges —
it doesn’t scare Me anymore
I listen to the waves instead
at My Right —
the rock is to My Left and I will go
away from it
as quietly
as I came upon it
The Hawk Window Seat 10:52am
Years ago I left a house
with home-made curtains
& wooden floors
My Children both were babies there
& I was young with motherhood
& early marriage I thought was happy
until the onset of a tumour
inside My Mother’s Head
The Hawk Basement 12:39pm
When My Mother first had Her Brain Tumour
diagnosed
She was tested as to functionality
by having to bake Chocolate Chip Cookies
unassisted
in a hospital kitchen
She was to follow a recipe
and I was with Her
not allowed to help
but I don’t remember
how, or if
They came out
Oh It was a shock alright —
twenty years after My Mother’s Brain Tumour
and have I recovered?
I think so, at least the waves
are telling Me so, and The Cats, Crows
Willets & Gulls. The Sky tells Me so.
–
I hear a Willet now, over
the Southern End of The Hawk —
I am very happy Here
where nothing can get Me.
Joanna Gilman Hyde 