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
The Hawk Queen Bed 10:15pm
Together We watched a purple sky
as evening fell
upon Our Christmas Dinner —
on Our way back
from Barrington
to pick up an ice pack
for Her trip south
We watched, together
the cradle of The Moon
falling into
a blackened sea
The Hawk Window Seat 10:55am
Gub Plays Her Guitar
& Sings In My Cathedral
I Am Completed
The Hawk Kitchen 11:40am
One Day This Week
I grew into A Giant
somewhere between
Prom on Saturday
& Graduation on Thursday —
It was Wednesday
I came out of The Bathroom
Naked
& felt My Shoulders Rise
My Chest Heave
My Legs Muscle Up —
I felt My Self Grow
like Alice In Wonderland
& climbed the stairs DOWN
to go tell Hunter:
“I’m A Giant —
I’m A Giant!”
–
I’m A Giant of A Mother
I’m A Giant of A Wife
I’m A Giant of A Lover
I’m A Giant of My Life
The Hawk Deck 4:30pm
Twenty Years Ago
I wrote in a hospital:
“I CREATED MY SELF
BUT I GIVE GOD
THE CREDIT”
(Then I got intentionally pregnant)
Now I Say:
“I MADE UP MY DAUGHTER —
I PLANNED HER
TO BE A WOMAN WHO
CAN DO
ANYTHING
(and SHE HAS TO BE BEAUTIFUL)”
Eliza, born into water
came out
P-E-R-F-E-C-T
(& God had nothing to do with it)
The Tomato-coloured Couch 5:30pm
I married Him under apple boughs
on The Island of My Mother
and when She died
six years later
I would love another
–
I went to see Our Marital House
to see Eliza there
to deliver dishcloths
She was wanting
to see how She had cared
enough to put a sprig of apple
in a bottle neck deep and red
It glowed upon a kitchen sill
I have nothing left to dread
no more hurting husbands
no more dying pets
I am free now
in My Life
even to forget
The Tomato-coloured Couch 12:15pm
This Morning My Daughter reported waking
to the song of multitudinous bird-life
the dehumidifier tray was full
but She had no hot water
in The Atlantic House —
My First Marital Home
with Eliza’s Father
Who picked the colours
& built an addition
complete with screened-in porch
off Our New Bedroom
I sat out there in the shelter of the screens
in My Post-Mother’s-Death Depression
& wondered, along with everyone else,
why I was not happy
The Tomato-coloured Couch 6:30pm
She left tonight for Her Cottage —
Eliza’s Cottage — The Atlantic House She partially grew up in
It’s fifteen minutes closer to Her Summer Job
& She took the dehumidifier from The Hawk
to get the dampness out
She took Her Vegan Food from the cupboards
& left most of Her Clothes in Her Closet
The Lincoln She left in was making Its high-pitched scary noise
but She drove away
anyway
The Hawk Queen Bed 9:11pm
I hear The Peepers through My Left
Surf out to My Right
My Left Hand rests on My Husband’s Thigh
My Pills I’ve taken for The Night
The Day is closing, nondescript
though visited Mother-in-law (ex)
to make sure Eliza’s Prom Dress zipped
(It did)
made home-made pizza —
was a hit
in bed now, early
quit
The Hawk Basement 3:30pm
I have two poems
swirling around in My Head:
The First represents The Shadow of a trinket
bauble, gem, charm, jewel
cast upon My Basement Wall
to the immediate right
of My Rowing Machine’s Arm
It is The Configuration
of a diamond ring
tipped to the right
& out from underneath It
falls, clatters
a rain of darker pieces, shapes
of raw concrete
spilling to the floor
meeting the extension of The Shadow
cast by the elongated arm
–
The Second is of My Mother & My Daughter:
While I was driving to pick up My Daughter
The Shadow of My Mother took over, briefly
& the car in front of Me
held My Daughter’s initials
& I, as Mother & Daughter
was The Bridge
I am The Bridge
Joanna Gilman Hyde 