The Hawk Kitchen 7:15pm
I used to announce to Hunter
when I felt a wave of happiness
& now I have felt not The Wave
but The Smooth Line — The Flat Line
of complete fulfilment:
It came in My Kitchen
cooking Fettuccine Alfredo
with spaghetti noodles
& looking out the sink window
to the evening light
on the rocks
lining My Cellar Drive
The Hawk Portico 6:00pm
In the stillness of this evening
I have a call for The Hawk:
The Plaintive Cooing of The Mourning Dove
sounding clean & close above the others
so still am I in My Chair
I hear not even surf
but the buzz of a fly
& the sucking surge of The Grackle
The Hawk Kitchen 10:11pm
Out on My Deck
I drink in The Inspiration
of The Morning
with a North West Wind
at My Back
& coffee steeping
on The Counter inside
where My New Lettered Glass
lures Me to It’s Self
–
*quote from WHB
The Hawk Kitchen 7:50pm
I have drunk My First Beverage
W–A–T–E–R
from My Chalice Divine
standing before My Dramatic Sky
of heavy mauve cloud
& Illuminated Gull
reaching around
to the sea-view
The Hawk Living Room 6:30pm
note: refer back to poem titled “Candle Holder”
I bought My Chalice today
in Yarmouth
It is a Candle Holder
It is frosted
It says in black “Life
is not measured by
the number of breaths we take,
but by the moments
which take our breath away.”
I bought It at Wall * Mart
I could drink Scotch out of It
The Hawk Living Room 1:45pm
I am sitting in a beam of sun
in a velvet chair
anything can happen here
in My Mind
any thought can be unleashed
with or without choice:
How do I know
I am deliberately
recalling
the total lack
of sun
in The Yarmouth Psychiatric Unit?
The Tomato-coloured Couch 8:00pm
My Mother told Me I couldn’t carry a tune
so She put Me in a crinkly black tutu
& expected Me to dance
I was the clumsy conundrum
My Teachers couldn’t figure out
I was Cinderella in French
& Teacher’s Pet in Junior High Science
I didn’t like High School
with One Peculiar Friend
Who wanted to get high
at lunch
My Mother put Me into Her College —
a small liberal arts school in up state New York
where I took all the art I could get
& transferred into Cooper Union in New York City
After graduating I decided
to paint the most visible roof in the world:
#5 World Trade Center
& was given permission by The Port Authority of NY & NJ
In 1984 I signed My Name
to the ten-thousand square-foot canvas
in three-foot high letters
I wore a crinkly black skirt
filmed by German Television
& three decades later
is on You Tube
The Tomato-coloured Couch 6:43 pm
Should I feel guilty eating
a steak sandwich in front
of My Nearly Vegan Daughter
Who exploded into tears
when I told Her
She didn’t have to go to University
to learn Sociology?
The Hawk West Desk Window 4:44pm
I am in search of a Chalice
a heavy tubular drinking vessel
preferably frosted, to be pushed repeatedly
at My Fridge Water Dispenser
— I looked in Barrington today
in The Salvation Army Thrift Store
3 Bargain Stores
& Shopper’s Drug Mart
but nothing caught My Eye
nor
My Fist
The Hawk West Desk Window 8:30pm
I am married to a Very Important Person:
a Man with Whom People confer
telling Their deepest concerns
seeking guidance
medical attention
& moral advice
He’s been in This Position
for fifty years
& probably will be
for The Rest of His Life
Joanna Gilman Hyde 