My Daughter & I
came back from The Beach
I hung Our Towels on The Line
I checked My Blog
to find a New Follower
soulblindministry
whose Donate Heart
was just like Mine
(My Daughter didn’t think so)
just like Mine
in My Eye Am
painting
Just Like Mine
I see A Room Inside
a big black TV Screen
I see a lamp, some books & DVDs
mirrored for My View
–
I slide over to My Left
to have a shoulder, Left
exposed with half
My Head
–
A Red Light
below My Chest
–
“DON’T MOVE”
The Hawk Kitchen 2:32pm
Joanna Gilman Hyde Blair must be a Throwback to The Fifties:
White Stay-At-Home Mom
3rd Wife to A Silver Haired Doctor
Moderate Drinker — Would Like To Smoke
NOT A CHURCH GOER
Eats Red Meat & Lots Of It
Likes To Shop but Considers Cost
Doesn’t Care (very much) What She Drives
As Long As It Works
Has Been Seen Eating @ MacDonalds
In An Off-The-Shoulder Oprah Evening Dress
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
Last Night @ 7:15
Mumbo reappeared
at Our Front Door
She spent The Night
on the floor of Hunter’s Room
on a sheep fleece
and greeted Me This Morning
when I called Her “Mumbolette”
She took 2 laps of water, no treats
and Hunter decided to give Her
a Cortisone Pill
She sat on the mat by the kitchen door
but We wouldn’t let Her Out
Even Then She Vanished
I looked all over the house
including the basement
and just now found Her
upstairs under Our Bed
I let Mumbo out This Morning
She had eaten nothing
and was sitting by the kitchen door
She sat on the deck
where I thought She might stay
the next thing I knew
She was wandering briefly
dark in The Neighbours’ Drive
She disappeared.
–
At lunchtime I heard from Hunter:
“Mumbo, where are You?”
Mumbo is camped out
on Our Black Cat Mat
in Hunter’s Room
— really The Family Room —
She had about a teaspoon
of evaporated milk
but managed to eat a few cat treats
earlier today
so maybe She’s not
on Her Last Legs
I just finished settling Mumbo
on a fish-shaped padded mat
sewn by Eliza
a long time ago —
I gave Mumbo some evaporated milk
which She took
is She stationed here
in My Hawk Kitchen
on Her Mat behind My Grandmother’s Chair?
why wait for a cat to die
before writing about Her?
She has been gone all morning
frail in the wind
having eaten nothing
but peed on the lawn
shall I write of Her
in The Past Tense?
She was a wonderful kitty
born of enthusiasm
demanding
ferocious pettings
a black-and-white cat
I named Mumbo
Who was ready for anything
Joanna Gilman Hyde 