The Hawk West Desk Window 2:11pm
I just put a couple of month-and-a-half old
English Muffins
torn up, out for The Gulls
Who squawked & swooped upon the feed
immediately
getting bulges in Their Gullets
while I got a pang
of wishing I had more —
Oh! I do!
The Remainder of a loaf of Newfoundland Bread
which I dumped in the wet grass
but for some reason didn’t tear up the over-sized slices
& The Gulls had to compete with The Crows
Who could fly away with a whole piece
and not drop it
The Tomato-coloured Couch 7:00pm
I perceived The Little Yellow Bird again
in The Scraggly Apple
& He Tweeted — what did He Tweet to Me
before My Daughter called to ask
if I could find Her Horse Binder
(She’s trying to sell Her Horse)
Did That Little Yellow Bird Tell Me
He’s sick of all this New Age Shit
about feebleness conquering strength
about Our New Era
when “God” is (finally?) questioned
when Humanity is being examined
when The Global Financial Picture is a blur
— but still no answers —
nothing concrete
so came The Little Bird Tweet
The Tomato-coloured Couch 11:44am
Black Jesus is now driving
a new white Silverado
I saw Him at The Clyde River Exit
& followed Him into Sobey’s in Barrington
where He parked
at The Yellow Sign On The Cart Corral:
“In The Event Of Emergency Gather Here”
He parked in an assembly
of White Vehicles
while I walked into The Store
to get some Cat Food
& fruit for My Sick Daughter
The Tomato-coloured Couch 7:33pm
I was eating My Canned Soup tonight
when I realized
I can’t just pick up the phone
& call My Brother Howard —
He’s Not There — Or Here
He was killed, accidentally
on a jail-house floor
five-and-a-half years ago
prompting The 3-year Hyde Inquiry
resulting in Our Two Copies
of The 460-page Judge’s Decision titled:
Report of The Fatality Inquiry
Into The Death Of Howard Hyde
shelved in Hunter’s New Library
The Hawk West Desk Window 6:15pm
When I Go To Sleep At Night
I Think Of All Of Humanity
Swarming Over The Globe
Half Of Them/Us
Asleep In Acres Of Bedding
Each Speck A World To Itself
Unique In Its Make-up
Unique In The Life It Lives
Like The Configurations Of Galaxies
In The Petri Dish
Of Our Universe
The Tomato-coloured Couch 8:22pm
I am a little girl
hair in braids
clutching My Tabby Cat
listening to My Mother
–
I am a self-sufficient teenager
riding My Bike
on My Paper Route
making My Teachers happy
wanting to be a helicopter pilot
an artist on the side
–
I am a young mother
homesteading with a handsome family man
approved of by My Mother
having Our Babies*
before & soon after Her Death
–
I am an “older” woman now
reviewing two marriages
children grown
houses changed with assorted cats
& somehow I am happy
not too far from My Own Mind
*one who was aborted on March 27, 1997
The Tomato-coloured Couch 6:42pm
an elderly blond nurse
put Me in My Pyjamas
from My Wedding Trousseau
and as She thought I had laid down
to “settle”
I surprised Her
by popping up to declare:
“Wait A Minute –“
but what was that
I was thinking?
I didn’t say —
Joanna Gilman Hyde 