The Hawk Living Room 8:30pm
After supper in Valley Cottage
My Brother & I turned on
the overhead light
Our Mother never used
& turned & twirled
until We were dizzy
We lay down on the thin carpet
happily feeling Our Living Room
spin
The Hawk West Desk Window 8:11pm
I am the eleven-year-old school girl
trudging up Mountainview Avenue
deliberately crossing through woods
in front of My House
rather than take the paved drive way
–
I am a Tower of Poetic License
I write My Life as It comes to Me
in grades of Sterling Silver
in shades of reconciliation
between black & white
I am Alive
& I know it
even in My Seep
Yarmouth, NS 6:10pm
My Daughter is beautiful
even in the ugliest of lights
buying Her Bedding for college
on the dirtiest of floors
— the concrete of Wall Mart —
having to use Her Own Debit Card
because Her Mother brought
a wallet-less purse
The Hawk Portico 6:40pm
The Jays Have The Propensity
To Call Me Away To My Childhood
Raised By A Single Mother
On Top Of A Hilly One Acre
In Woods Of Birdsong
& Blind Man’s Bluff
Pubnico, NS 10:22am
I am driving Home
A New Message
there — I see that tree I remember
I climbed It as a little kid
& now It is The Mighty Oak
Out There I See The Ocean
with tidal flats before
I hear The Waves
high under The Full Moon
pushing Me onward
to The Self
I think I know
so well
The Tomato-coloured Couch 6:22pm
In This Red Book
I Write Instruction
for Women of Child-bearing Years
I Write Steadfast Instruction:
Lay Down Your Tools
of Abortion
Think
of The Twins
Think
of The Single Entities of Humanity
Look At What You Are Doing
To Your Selves
And To The People Who Love You
Think
of What Possession
You Have Been Given —
How Can You Not Want It?
He And She Are A Significant Part
of You
And You Are
All Of Them
The Hawk West Desk Window 9:40pm
When I was eight
I had My Tonsils & Adenoids out
& answered a nurse’s question
“Do You have a Boy Friend?”
“My Step Brother”
I was told to count backwards from ten
with the Ether Mask on —
I made it to nine
& when I woke up
I sat up
immediately
a nurse came running over
I was put temporarily in a room
with TV’s on the ceiling
& My Mother took Me out
reluctantly
whereupon I threw up at the check-out counter
trying to aim for a proffered garbage can
At Home I feasted on ice water
& mint chocolate chip shakes
& did My school work
with a very nice tutor/babysitter
for ten days
before going back to school
ten pounds lighter
& telling everyone how badly
My Throat hurt
& how much I loved Ice Water
The Hawk Kitchen 11:40am
One Day This Week
I grew into A Giant
somewhere between
Prom on Saturday
& Graduation on Thursday —
It was Wednesday
I came out of The Bathroom
Naked
& felt My Shoulders Rise
My Chest Heave
My Legs Muscle Up —
I felt My Self Grow
like Alice In Wonderland
& climbed the stairs DOWN
to go tell Hunter:
“I’m A Giant —
I’m A Giant!”
–
I’m A Giant of A Mother
I’m A Giant of A Wife
I’m A Giant of A Lover
I’m A Giant of My Life
The Hawk Deck 4:30pm
Twenty Years Ago
I wrote in a hospital:
“I CREATED MY SELF
BUT I GIVE GOD
THE CREDIT”
(Then I got intentionally pregnant)
Now I Say:
“I MADE UP MY DAUGHTER —
I PLANNED HER
TO BE A WOMAN WHO
CAN DO
ANYTHING
(and SHE HAS TO BE BEAUTIFUL)”
Eliza, born into water
came out
P-E-R-F-E-C-T
(& God had nothing to do with it)
The Tomato-coloured Couch 10:22pm
I wore a necklace of shells
My Father sent from Africa
when I was four
She — My Daughter — wore
Her Dress Of Silver — size 2
shaped like a mermaid
& visited Her Other Grandfather
in The Hospital —
He said
“You Look Like A Fish”
Joanna Gilman Hyde 