Eliza’s Room 10:09am
When a cat knocks
something over
& it breaks
& You try to fix it
too hastily to replace the fractional pieces
You’re left with a unique ornament
of a mother elephant
with baby
& the defining mark of accident
on its left ear
The Hawk Kitchen Outpost 8:30am
My Earth is a jewel
with Its opalescent sky
& silvery sea
I come to It naturally
as a babe in utero
to dwell in Its paradises
to live off Its swell
to savour all Its antiquities
The Hawk Kitchen 6:38pm
Off Restaurant Menus
I Learned To Read My First Words:
HAMBURGER DELUX
The Hawk Deck 9:36am
I Am The Vessel
of Life
consuming inordinate quantities
of water
retaining fluid
in My Head
& Limbs
I hear the call of The Mourning Dove
& The Grackle
on This New Spring Morning
I think of what My Life
contains:
My House
My Husband
My Far-away Kids
grown now
with Their Own
Lives
Halifax, NS 1:55pm
I saw A Little Girl
quickly stroking Her Nanna’s Hands
out-stretched on a cafe table
She — The little Girl —
had on a Silver Heart
& played with Her Elder’s Hands
until Her Mother
took The little Girl
to the bathroom
The Hawk Kitchen 2:48pm
I know what it means
to be a housewife:
picking lint galaxies
off Your Husband’s Shirts
doing a light load of wash
for A Grown Daughter
Who’s off to be
with Her Grown Brother
wondering if Your Children will appear
for supper
The Hawk Kitchen Outpost 7:56am
A bank of silvery clouds
is broken at the horizon
with a band of light
above the ocean
Today is The Day
I see My Children
together as a pair
grown & out there
leading Their Own Lives
The Hawk Kitchen 8:13pm
I have A Magic Pendant
It is Black & White
I wear It always around My Neck
to let It clarify My Sight
My Brother had One
made of Silver
It was Our Mother’s
Oh How He Loved Her!
He dangled Its chain
& let It swing
to answer Yes one way
or No the other
He saw His Way
out of any dilemma
& told His Fortune
to His Gods
He struck a deal
with His Death
that He would be remembered
as a Man of Steel
safely stowed
in The Land of Nod
The Hawk Outpost 8:05am
I stand in a beam
of Silver Light
thinking of My Children
My Sole Delight?
I seem to see Them
in My Mind
as if I have Them
for All Time
The Hawk Kitchen 12:12pm
I am The Little
Second Coming of Christ
wearing My Galaxy Underpants
cleaning cat hairs off
The Tomato-coloured Couch
I Am Here & Everywhere
re-defining God, Jesus
& The World
half-dressed
Joanna Gilman Hyde 