Sobey’s Parking Lot, Barrington Passage, NS 11:27am
I am going half-naked
into The Night — dressed
in My Lace Black Bra
& Eliza’s thong
with only one piece
of jewellery on My Ring Finger
& My Trusty Watch
upon My Right Wrist
The Hawk Kitchen Outpost 12:09pm
When My Daughter visits
My Mother’s Island
will She dance
on Her Grandmother’s Grave?
Will She pick fall foliage
& climb shoreline rocks
scaring The Slumbering Garter Snakes
& The Mink who feed
upon Them?
The Hawk Kitchen Outpost 7:08pm
The Sky looks like Jupiter
& I have dined
on bread pudding
& whipped cream
summer rains
accompanied the return
of Eliza’s prom dress
layered in Silver sequins
& rented for the second time
Eliza’s Bathroom 1:38pm
I stand on a mat of Purple
in My Purple accented bath
looking down at My Purple toe nails
& Teal coloured pants
looking from above at My Station
as The 3rd Wife of a successful doctor
The Mother of 2.4 Children I love
fiercely
A Revolutionary of Vision
an artist of words
The Tomato-coloured Couch 4:35pm
She was My Little Girl
My Masterpiece of Perfection
The Adorable Child
I have only in photographs
separated from Me
while I was ill
NOW — She is off
from Miami Beach
to British Columbia
leaving another heart
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 2:19pm
I am seeing The Colours
of Flaming June*
out on the highway
in scraps of florescent rope
in the roses and carnations from My Children
in My Frying Pan
of green and orange peppers
and in My Cold Weather Wear
warning of My Existence
*Frederic Leighton 1895
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
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
Joanna Gilman Hyde 