3:45pm
Southerly Surf resonates
in My Blood —
I’m composed of 50 Trillion Cells
or more —
How many of Them are My Blood
activated
by Each Surge of Sound
moving through Me
moving My Pen
as I sit with Knees up
on The Armless End
of My Tomato-coloured Couch?
The Hawk Deck 1:38 pm
All That I Have Lived For
Adds Up To This Moment
I Have Lost Nothing
–
The Clouds Progress From West To East
–
I Am In My Hour —
My Hour Of Refinement
I’m lying on My Tomato-coloured Couch
— did I say It’s very comfortable?
Looking up at My Crow Painting
— I need My Glasses —
The Living Room Window is Open
to The Southerly Waves
at My Head
with Eliza’s Horse Blanket
over The Rest
We have One Cat
Who Catches Birds
It Breaks My Heart
Every Time I Pick One Up
Off The Deck
headless or legless
to throw down The Toilet
Am I going to have to leave
The Island House
for one more winter?
There are still no buyers
spiders have taken over
Who will ever live out there?
–
WHB just said, “You’re not in any place
where the bad things happened.”
–
Will We keep The Island
in case the power goes out
here on The Hawk?
Will We load up Our Cans
& Sleeping Bags
& boat for The Solace
of That Place so loved
by My Mother
& Me?
The Hawk Deck 8:40am
The Morning Sky is Silver
as I heed the wealth
of My Surroundings
–
The Surf is shushing Me again
while My Teacup steeps
My Husband sleeps
I assess the coolness of The Wind
–
9:40am
The Surf is Louder Now
It Wakes Me Up
To The Silver Streaks & Pools
across The Ocean
My Husband is Up
& We’re Having Coffee
–
11:40am
A Pair of Jays have come
to The Straggly Apple by The Deck
Others Join Them
so I have My Flock of Jays
Who squawk out My Growing Up
as They All fly off:
“You are in The Childhood
of Your Maturity
Here On The Hawk”
Did God create The Dragonfly
to fly out of nymph-hood Today
of All Days?
Or has The Dragonfly created Itself
over eons
to emerge from arbitrary randomness?
–
I have been answered
by swarms of midges
screaming out to Me
for recognition
The Hawk West Desk Window 8:15am
Nobody knew how much
I longed for Those Pet Store Love Birds
except My Mother
as I begged Her to buy Them
for forty dollars in 1970
I had My Heart Set On Them:
all She said was
What If One of Them Dies?
–
8:35am
Two Years Ago We Awoke
to Our First Morning Here On The Hawk
It seems so long ago
I can’t remember:
was it The Still, Glittering Day
We are having Now
with Our First Cup of Coffee in Bed
& Our Second on The Deck?
Or was I frantically unpacking?
I can’t remember
Joanna Gilman Hyde 