The Hawk Kitchen Outpost 8:41am
My Father once gave Me
two clutches of jade grapes
& eggs to go with them —
I put them in an agate bowl
given to Me by My California Sisters
when They came to Howard’s funeral
nearly eight years ago
I wonder where that bowl is now —
I have searched high & low
Did I give it, with contents,
to The Salvation Army — or did I
pack it away in some forgotten cranny
of My three storey house
where I will find it when
I am alone & old?
October 18, The Hawk Living Room 6:30pm
When I hit
20,001,100 metres
on My 10 year-old Concept 2 indoor rower
I raised My Arms
in triumph
& Hunter snapped a picture
forever declaring in that frame
that I was Howard
Interview with Steve Murphy of CTV Atlantic News, December 2010
The Hawk Queen Bed 9:25am
My Brother’s Room
on McNutt Island
was paneled in knotty pine
stained an olive green
wherein He saw
knots shaped like Lurid Faces
& crossed Them over
with masking tape
Listening to Future Islands 8:25pm
One night
an eternity ago
when I was young with My Brother
alive, yet within the walls
of Our Psychiatric Unit
He gave Me a white carnation
& a red rose & said
I was The Rose — I asked Him
to join Me in the morning
in My Pink Bedspread-ed Room
to make the announcement
to Our tall psychiatrist:
as I took Howard’s hand
I pronounced to Dr Chandler
“We are The Second Coming of Christ”
and he, that very tall man
with the booming voice
walked out
The Hawk Queen Bed 8:50am
Eye woke w/ The Dream
of M(eye) Mother
having Her 2nd Funeral
Eye was w/ Howard
in The Jordan Bay House
& She hadn’t died yet
Eye asked Howard where
We should have The Funeral
& He said Here!
We can put The Coffin
on The Sun Porch Table
& have Everyone park
on the grass. We can send
Her Body out to sea
& Eye said, It better go
way out to sea or
It will just wash up
in The Cove!
Eye asked My Brother —
“Have You ever known
Anyone Who’s had 2
Funerals?”
The Hawk Queen Bed 8:48pm
In The Jordan Bay House
Howard and Eye were put to bed
at 8 o’clock
with late evening sun
pouring in over the ridge
to the west of our Grandparents’
It came through uncurtained windows
as We lay in Our Beds
tired from Our Days
at the shore
or helping in Granmamma’s garden
or Pappy’s workshop —
those were the domains
of Our Grandparents while Our Mother
worked on Her Island House
half a harbour away
where She would sleep
forever when She died
with sheep walking over
Her Grave
The Hawk Queen Bed 3:43pm
My Brother Howard often complained
of a pain in His Heart
& no one could understand why —
doctors could find nothing wrong
& He went to His Grave
with a mysterious awareness
comparable to the physicality
of My Animated Halo
& He went to His Grave
minus His Heart
& His Brain
Joanna Gilman Hyde 