My Brother Howard’s Birthday, The Hawk Portico 3:05pm
I ain’t playin’
when I see that Brinks
armoured truck runnin’ grey along
the front windows of Sobey’s
I ain’t playin’
when I feel a surge in My Heart
when I see them bullet-proof men
stagin’ them bags of money —
I gots Mine –
I’m safe
October 5th, The Hawk Queen Bed 10:40pm
I have installed a family
of stuffed animals & dolls
in a finished basement window
in order to unpack
dusty cardboard boxes
flattened for recycling —
I have placed My Brother’s Anne of Green Gables
as The Baby Sitter
over hard-headed “twins” from the 30’s
My Stuffed Bear “Bear Bear”
in a bright red mantel over a pink bath robe
a squirrel to represent My Mother’s Presence
& a hand-made cloth doll from China
–
*Grandfather Bobby Hyde’s sister Helen who lived in a studio apartment in NYC, drinking gin in the morning next to her full-sized loom and talked to me of a family who lived in her sky light.
The Hawk Kitchen Outpost 8:59am
Silver on The Water
Silver in The Sky
The Thermometer is low
The End is (nearly*) Nigh
–
I am wide awake
The Coffee Pot is on
I have My House full of guests
ungrateful for The Dawn
*redundancy
The Hawk Exercise Room 11:11am
Silver Crashes Down On My Head
Silver Flashes Out Between My Legs
I Am Strong
I Am Woman
The Hawk Kitchen Outpost 7:28pm
“Hi Joanna — what U doin’ Today?”
“Imma Usherin’ in The New Age.”
“The New Age of What?”
“The New Age of Silver –what else?”
“How U doin’ that?”
“With how I deck My Body
& how I deck My Mind.”
“What d’ya mean?”
“My Mind is My Body
& My Jewels are My Accent.”
The Hawk Queen Bed 8:11am
The Jay boasts The Song
of My Growing Up
in Valley Cottage, New York
where I played in woods
behind My House
& zoomed up a hill
from The Bus
after school
The Hawk Kitchen Outpost 8:41pm
I am a Star Traveller
rigged out with My Silver Wrists
& stretch pants, grey —
I will fly with My Life’s Companion
& leave My Big Black Scare-dee Cat, Astro
behind —
so I’ll come
Home
The Hawk Kitchen Outpost 12:50pm
The White Man Came
upon Indian (Native) soil
& took possession
with trinkets & knives
& drink
from another land
to stake a claim
to the ruination
of Fundamental
Humanity
The Hawk Queen Bed 4:02am
I draw a blank
when I try to remember
My Dreams —
but The One I’m living out
is with Me
Forever
Joanna Gilman Hyde 