The Hawk Kitchen Outpost 4:30pm
Today I watched The Beautiful Cashier
get out of Her Car
at The Little Store where She works
for a longer stretch than other
pretty girls — this One is magnificent:
an alabaster face
set with well-formed eyes
graced by a distinctive nose
She wears Her Hair loose over one shoulder
sporting Her High School Sweater
She beautifies Her Station
of lottery tickets
& vegetable scale
doing Her Job with a shy appearance
making You shy too
Barrington Passage, NS 3:30pm
EYE have a piece
of The Night Sky
on My Right Middle Finger
My Trigger Finger
with The Silver Emblem
of a curve-sided diamond —
EYE am out
to make the sturdiness
of M(EYE) Self
Timeless
The Hawk Kitchen Outpost 1:10pm
I am seeing stars
for thoughts —
first a red one
telling Me to take My General Mills Letter
off the refrigerator —
then a silver one
in The TV Room
when I wondered
about My Bullet-proof Vest
But Oh! I cannot be wearing
My Black Bullet-proof Vest
around the house
as a fashion accessory
to go with My New Ring
(which I still don’t have!)
The Hawk Queen Bed 8:55pm
I have looked up
to see Orion
I have looked down
to see My Toes
painted Nordic Lights —
Tomorrow I get My Ring —
My Ring of Fire
bought with My Own Money
for I am That Child
Who must have Her Toys
& begs to be shown off
against Our Backdrop
of Disaster
The Hawk Kitchen Outpost 7:40am
I see The Silver Lining
of the cloud bank over head
out to sea I look
to the pewter of the waves
The Sun is out, clouded
casting Its own Silver
across the rippled sky
The Hawk Queen Bed 9:22pm
Who was it who said
“Old Age Creeps Up On You”?
He should be shot —
Old Age comes over You in waves
when You’re not even the one
Who’s old
when It’s Your Elderly Relative
perhaps a dear old ex mother-in-law
with bad circulation
or Hunter’s Best Friend
with no kidney function
or an old goat of a cousin
Who wants only to die
on Her Goat Farm in Vermont —
These are The Waves —
and They wash over You
and try to get You
and there’s nothing
You can do
The Tomato-coloured Couch 5:12pm
I have just spent an hour at least
shielding My Eyes from the sun
to watch a flock of Starlings
starting in Our Yard —
heading across the street
in elongated splashes of sparkle
every time They took off —
and matted together on either
roof lines, grass or wires
in Their elusive group-think
I would give anything
to know
The Tomato-coloured Couch 3:46pm
How dare they try
to count The Stars
by saying every one
is just a speck of sand
on all The World’s Beaches
— if that is the case
I have just traversed
trillions on My Walk
to The Guzzle Rock
covered in barnacles —
should I count them too?
Clark’s Harbour Red & White 6:00pm
I just ordered a sodalite ring
to make Me feel better
It’s coming next week
when I will have begun
My Concept 2 March Madness Challenge
when I will be rowing
10,000 metres a day
for the muddy month of March
& I will earn
My Power Ring
& I will wear It
proudly
The Hawk Living Room 8:30pm
The Time has Come
to write of My Floor
My Platform of The Universe
laid out like a sea
The Foundation of My Living Room –
I come downstairs
seeing It from above
to pick up stray galaxies
of cat hair bundles
— maybe only one or two —
along the vast expanse
of My Extreme Meanderings
Joanna Gilman Hyde 