The Hawk Deck 1:15pm
I am on The Verge
of Something Big
drinking from The Cup of Life
watching rustling leaves
along The Hedge
with fog wafting past
opening out to Me
the interwoven
sustenance
of calling birds
& One
Steady
Fog
Horn
The Hawk West Desk Window 6:20pm
We’re going to have A Pet Gull
I bet
One stood beside The Deck
right after supper
so I threw Him a heel of My Bread
in torn-off pieces
He kept catching
in mid-toss
The Tomato-coloured Couch 8:22pm
I just saw A Bird
atop The Scraggly Apple
(had time to get the binoculars)
I could swear It had A Wing
Its Left Wing
& Tail
hammered out of Silver
like armoured plating
beneath Its iridescent plumage
The Hawk Window Seat 3:10pm
Through My Screened-in Window
I Catch The Lupine & Wild Rose
Out By The Roadside
Rarely Travelled
The Lull Of The Surf
Out Past The Cape
Eases Its Way Through
The Song Of The Birds
& The Intermittent Play
Of Our Sunny Breeze
The Hawk Deck 10:50pm
I ate My Banana Breakfast
standing in My Sun Hat & Pyjamas
watching The Ocean sparkle
through The Summer Haze
–
Off to My Left
I could hear The Surf
& Birdsong all around
ushering me in
to My Next Existence
The Hawk Portico 5:00pm
My House faces South
here on The Hawk —
a spit of built-up sand
growing only scrub spruce
& beach dunes
— grass does grow in My Yard
except for a barren spot
where We can park —
but yes, This Is Where
I have found such joy
in the sounds of The Birds
& The Waves — Waves
all the way around —
I hear Them to My Right Today
as I gaze to the blue horizon
to My Left
The Hawk Portico 3:45pm
“All She did was sit
out on that front stoop
of Hers
while other women
hung out wash
or brought in groceries
She never seemed to have anyone
over
— Oh She’d talk on the phone
al-right
half The Hawk could hear —
but how could She just sit
like that —
sit & look
at The Ocean?”
The Hawk Portico 3:15pm
I live at A Beach Resort
out on My Portico
with potted palm fronds
to either side
& all The Bird Song
I could cling to
above
the gentle surf
out front
The Hawk Deck 10:40am
The Scraggly Apple
is a stunted tree
in My Back Yard —
The Only Tree
within Our Boundaries
used by various types of birds
as a deck-side outpost
for viewing and warbling:
I’ve seen Jays, Robins
Grackles, Sparrows, Warblers
and once a small Woodpecker
— anything heavier
would not be given perch
by Its nearly leafless
lichen-covered
branches
Joanna Gilman Hyde 