Joanna Gilman Hyde

The Hawk Queen Bed 12:45am

Against The Backdrop of Africa

I stood to walk in a circle

of Black Women

reaching out to Me

— They had never seen a white baby

before —

& against the backdrop of fishermen

I clomped in My Black Fisherman’s Boots

up the pavement

of The Sandy Point Fish Wharf

to drive My Mother’s parked

VW Square Back

back down to the Molly already unloaded —

the men had never seen

a girl from New York

arriving each summer

departing for school in the fall —

against the backdrop

of art school intellectualism

I stood out for My Big Ideas

going after The Top

 falling in love

with The President of Cooper Union —

& marrying instead My Ticket

to Nova Scotia — having My 2.4

Children

with .4 ending up depicted

as a 3D red blotch

hanging in My Hawk Living Room

& now married to The Famous Dr Blair —

against the backdrop of Cape Sable Island

on the most southern tip of Atlantic Canada

I have become The Famous Artist

living in Nova Scotia —

a fish out of water

in Her Element