The Hawk Deck 9:45am
I have A Plate
that’s square
& glaring red —
I use It for cheese & crackers
& banana bread
baked by a friend
& bestowed upon
new cottagers
who say
“See Ya!”
The Hawk Deck 11:36am
I am drinking in
The Autumn
when I drink My Tea
I am taking in
the lower sun
the preparations
of neighbours’ lawns
the last mowings
the wood split
for winter
The Hawk Outpost 10:22am
I am so happy here
sending My Doctor
off to work
in His light-blue
wrinkle-free
shirt
hanging Our Comforter
on the line
while a neighbour’s
in Her Bathrobe
& I am in My Pyjamas
The Hawk Portico 3:15pm
I am like a Big Italian Woman
leaning on bare elbows
out an open window
surveying Her Neighbourhood —
does She hear The Birds
as She nods to Her Neighbours
& watches Children on bicycles?
The Hawk Portico 2:15pm
It’s My Job
to write about The Sinuosity
of My Neighbour’s Flag
momentarily out straight
It undulates in what wind
We have —
hypnotic in Its Red Swaths
Its Red Maple Leaf luffing
indelibly against The Forever
Blue Sea
The Hawk West Desk Window 10:52am
My Depression today is
a Big Red Truck Cab
inadequately hooked up
to an old mobile home
while I sit at My West Desk Window
waiting for A Parade
–
inside The Big Red Truck Cab
The Driver & His Partner sit
waiting for an excavator
to handle the job
of pulling the mobile home out
a long straight drive
around a right-angle corner
onto the road
this operation takes about forty minutes
–
next The Big Red Truck Cab drives out
& parks up ahead on the road
behind a leading white pick-up with warning lights
I make some Toast & Marmalade
& watch from My West Desk Window
–
The Big Red Truck Cab is re-hooked
to the old mobile home
& fills the road with Its catch
another truck brings up the rear
with a big red & white WIDE LOAD sign
–
I go downstairs to put on the kettle
I can watch through My House Side Door
The Parade of heavy equipment
is set
The Kettle boils
I pour My Tea
I go to look at My Line Up
It’s gone!
These Are The Neighbourhood Sounds
Which Drive Me Off My Deck:
Lawnmowers
Weed Eaters
Auto Body Grinders
Skill Saws
Chain Saws
Various Hammerings
Is That Enough?
–
These Are The Sounds That Keep Me:
The Waves
The Surf
The Fog Horns
The Peepers
The Wind in The Leafy Hedge
The Birds — Jays, Crows, Gulls, Willets,
Mourning Doves, Robins, Grackles, Starlings, Warblers, Chickadees
Isn’t That Enough?
–
What do The Gulls think
when They eat a food They’ve never had —
like Spanish Rice and Sausage —
What do The Crows think?
Joanna Gilman Hyde 