The Hawk Kitchen 2:48pm
I know what it means
to be a housewife:
picking lint galaxies
off Your Husband’s Shirts
doing a light load of wash
for A Grown Daughter
Who’s off to be
with Her Grown Brother
wondering if Your Children will appear
for supper
The Hawk Kitchen Outpost 7:56am
A bank of silvery clouds
is broken at the horizon
with a band of light
above the ocean
Today is The Day
I see My Children
together as a pair
grown & out there
leading Their Own Lives
The Hawk Outpost 8:05am
I stand in a beam
of Silver Light
thinking of My Children
My Sole Delight?
I seem to see Them
in My Mind
as if I have Them
for All Time
The Hawk Kitchen 8:26am
The ocean is a sea
of liquid Silver
The Sky is adrift
with opal cloud
My Son comes home
after two years away
and I am awash
in gratitude
The Hawk Kitchen 6:30
I AM A WOMAN
with thick curly hair
blond in The Sun
I live on The South West Shore
of Nova Scotia
I have a 22 lb Black Cat
I Love
I Love The World
I Love My Self
I Love My Husbands
I Love My Telepathic Partner
I Love My Children
ALL THREE OF THEM
The Tomato-coloured Couch 6:30pm
How valuable is My Time
when I have so much of It?
I can get a call
from My Son stocking groceries for His Drive
to Mexico from Vancouver
while I linger in Nova Scotia
with My Shopping Cart in the snack isle
of Sobey’s
an hour before My Manicure Appt.
taking all the time I need
to say Good-bye
The Tomato-coloured Couch 6:35pm
I have come a long way
since My Son
was born
27 years ago
& I have decided to make
My New Year’s Resolution
early:
NO MORE SIGNIFICANCE
TO SEQUENTIAL 2’s —
if I could stop drinking I can
stop anything —
and I WILL stop The World
when It’s Time
The Tomato-coloured Couch 2:00pm
I have painted
giant canvases
spread My Self across
the geography of Canada
written volumes of poetry
married twice
to capable men
carried My 2.4 Children
I live now in a house
of My Own Choosing
I am The Artist In Residence
in painted-on jeans
with tea steeping
in My Kitchen
The Hawk Portico 4:45pm
I want to write
My Life Out
in brilliant vibrancy
like the colours
of My Quilt
Purple & Teal
housed now
in a lavender room
by The Sea
(of course)
where I am
happiest
in a red deck chair
on My Front
Stoop
(The Portico)
entertained by amiable neighbours
taken care of
(in case I still need care)
by My
Glowingly Handsome Husband —
let Me write
too
about My Beautiful
Daughter
My Heroic Son
& yes
as the brightest
of all
let Me write
& Write
about My Love
which strings Me along
from water tap
to ocean spray
I drink
from My Glass
named Life
& I live
in Divine
Completeness
The Hawk Deck 7:47pm
All That I Have Lived For
Is Wrapped Up In This Moment
As I Am Wrapped In My Heavy Grey Bathrobe
With The Spears Of Light Forever Above Me
And All Down Around Me
How Have I Gotten This Far?
Through A Child’s Adoration Of A Pair
Of Love Birds To A Mother’s Love
Of Her Dearest 2.4’s
The Evening Light Is Upon The East
Illuminating The Scrub Spruce Forest
And I Have Come This Far
Joanna Gilman Hyde 