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
Today I Received
A Friend from Shelburne
Whose Voice of God
Directed Her
To Come See Me
She Is Back In My Life
Complete With God
Within Her — I Trust Her
She Is My New Friend
9:38
I See The Crescent Moon
tonight, setting
Outside My West Desk Window
9:40
I Have Never Watched The Crescent Set
I spied a pregnant woman
out behind Dr Blair’s office–
I was in My Car
in The Shade
an hour from My Pregnancy Test
which was negative
–
Dressed in Black & Red
She Shaded Her Eyes
& looked up at The Elm
where I married Dr Blair
in a ceremony
I care not to remember:
My Father
assigned to “give Me away”
called up the apartment stairs
for Me to hurry
and reluctantly doled out punch
while I sat
beside My Cake
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
A Canadian Maple Leaf
is A Star
RED STAR
undulating
Above The Blue Horizon
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
Sitting on My Deck
In My Red Deck Chair
I Have The Sheets on The Line
& The World in My Lap
I Can Hear The Surf
& See The Blue Horizon
Hazed Over
Like My Open Globe
“What’s a Woman like You
doing in a Place like This?”
–Camera View: from back of black oven
w/ Woman looking in
leaning on elbows
–View to rivet My eight-year-old frame:
Black w/ White Star Spatter
How am I Here in this Black Space?
Now white with tomato spatter
from Eliza
in The Microwave
Today is Hot for Nova Scotia
–I know It and You know It–
I’m not making more of It
when a humid trip to get the mail
presents The Ethereal Delight:
A Pair of American Gold Finches
splashing, dipping & shaking off
Together in a roadside puddle
Here I sit to watch
The Vertical Drizzle
outside the confines of The Portico
with The Waves
through The Rain
to watch A Cat
return
before My Naturally Bleach-Blond Daughter
emerges to ask
why I’m sitting in the rain
& If Her Perfect Make Up
is
OK
for
Poker
Joanna Gilman Hyde 