The Waves have died down now
cats are quarrelling
I am ready to Annunciate My Self
to become, to say
I am whatever You want
Me to be —
I can fill any role
but know that within My Role
& Yours
I am true
I am true to My Self
I am true to The World
& We will go farther
than far
together
MY KITTY
Astro Jasper Cosmo
is My Big Black Panther —
The Biggest Black Panther —
The Biggest, Hugest, Sleekest
Most Beautifulest Black Panther
in The Whole Wide World
to come out of
The Wilds of The Hawk
–w’ de cute l’il vampire toofies–
He’s My Super Cat
I Love Him
1/2 of India sits
in The World’s Largest Blackout
I sit on My Deck
with My Black Astro
lying across Me
while I wait
for a call from My Realtor
maybe with an offer
on My Mother’s Island House
complete with Windmill
& Solar Tracker
Here I sit to watch
The Vertical Drizzle
outside the confines of The Portico
with The Waves
through The Rain
to watch A Cat
return
before My Naturally Bleach-Blond Daughter
emerges to ask
why I’m sitting in the rain
& If Her Perfect Make Up
is
OK
for
Poker
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.
The Cats have lacerated
The Posts
on The Deck
but We don’t care
–It’s An Old Deck–
–no paint–
& We Love The Cats
& have no trees nearby
except for The Scrub Spruce
& That’s too far
for Half-a-Dozen Cats
I stepped out on The Deck
into The Early Morning Sun
— with My Clipboard, Pencil
Cup of Coffee — I looked out at The Atlantic
& decided to be A Writer.
–
I determined to fix A Poem:
The Greatest Date — written A Decade Ago —
–
I would fix The Ending mostly —
isn’t it The End
which usually needs attention?
–
& worked away
in That Dazzling Sun, in old sunglasses,
listening to The Breaking Waves, Birds
& My Husband stirring in The Kitchen
feeding The Cats
Joanna Gilman Hyde 