The Jays of Valley Cottage
mix with The Crows of Nova Scotia
I could hear Them
before writing
but now that My Book is out
open on My Lap
I hear the swooshing of The Hedge
& guess The Next Bird To Be–
–I have no guess–
–I’m waiting to hear–
a car pulls into a driveway
a neighbour tinkers in His Shed
so I move to The South of The House
–to The Portico–
where Those Waves are a woosh
with Gulls more audible
& now too, a Jay
For Eliza’s First Camping Trip
with A Boy
She & He bought A Six-man Tent
A Pink Fishing Rod
They rigged & set minnow traps
out of plastic pop bottles
& just drove out Our Driveway
in The Boy’s Big Black Truck
to get last-minute groceries
–
Eliza’s Made Reservations for Their Grounds–
Camp Fires are Regulated
The Fire Index is High
How incongruous that I should hear
The Jays of Valley Cottage
Here on Cape Sable Island
where I am so far removed
from My Growing Up–
or aren’t I still growing?
Here I feel I Have Arrived–
My Destiny has been laid out
on My Grandmother’s Silver Tray
on display atop
My Mother’s Mahogany Drop-leaf Table
Here in My Hawk Living Room
She got off The Bus
at Christian Herald Road
& Mountainview Avenue
to climb up The Hill
holding Webster’s Collegiate Dictionary
on Her 4th Grade Hip
Title Showing
I did have A Favourite Toy
and I still have Her:
a lopsided little bear
named “Bear Bear”
Who never spoke
She wore a doll’s bathrobe
and sat languidly
in the vicinity
of My Brother’s tough hefty “Bunny”
Who did speak
using a husky guttural voice
I Rub My Eyes
I Am The Child
no longer fettered by toys
I had no favourites
as I do Now:
My Silver Pen
My Journals
They are My Tools
–
I threw a dolly
with a pin in her stomach
into a closet
and scratched out The Faces
of female dolls
in a print above My Bed–
leaving the Boy Clown alone
He Was My Friend
–
I use the trappings of fashion Now
to parade My Self around
to say I Am Here
This Is Where
I Belong
and I Can See
You
Through Adult Eyes
8:06am
I see a backwards rainbow
circling around the sun
My Adulthood is on a collision course
with My Childhood yet undone
I am dressed for The Sun
in Floppy Sun Hat
& Long Mexican House Dress
with Sunscreen on My Arms
45 years or more
away from when My Mother
dressed Me
in My Sun Pants & nothing else
& sent Me outside
away from Harm
on Our Sunny Nova Scotia Island
10:48am
I look at the water dazzle
& think of what to write
I’ve been with Hunter
thirteen years
& not without a fight
–
11:00am
I want to climb into bed
like A Child
& hold onto My Daddy’s Head
from here to infinity
wild
OK ‘cuz now He’s dead
–
11:22am
A Butterfly has inspected
Me
I don’t know where She’ll
Land
perhaps on Someone Else’s
Lips
or in a Friendship’s
Hand
Joanna Gilman Hyde 