I found My Voice
in Chapters today
rising from the Well–Being section
My Voice was heard
above a wall of five stacks
–counted for My Husband–
demanding
“What Does Well–Being
MEAN?”
I turned on The Water
in what’s called Eliza’s Shower
& unbuttoned My LL Bean Rose Striped Linen Shirt
in The Mirror, Eliza’s Mirror
& took off My Grey Capris
which I have to throw out
because My Husband told Me
They go up The Crack of My Butt
I took off My Underwear
& tossed It in Eliza’s Laundry Basket
I took off My Unwieldy Bra
& hung It on a doorknob
How Long Is This Poem Going To Be?
I looked at My Body’s Profile
& decided if I look fat
I am probably about to get My Period
–
I stepped in behind The Curtain
The Stall was dirty
I put cleanser on a cleaning rag
I cleaned while The Spray was on Me
& rinsed The Tub
My Hair Was Wet
I squeezed out some Nizoral
Red In My Left Hand
& lathered My Hair
The Directions advise to leave It in
for 3-5 minutes
so I stepped back out
to look at My Watch
It told Me I was in The Twenty-second minute
OH! That’s When I Cleaned The Tub!
I cleaned The Tub & then Me
& rinsed My Hair
& got out
I towelled off in a clean towel
& took My Clothes
back to My Room
to put on Different Clothes
& Do You Know What I Put On?
I put on Black Underwear
My Black Push-up Bra
Black LL Bean Capris w/ Comfort Waist
Black Tank
Silver Earrings
Wedding Rings
Quartz Crystal & Diamond Question Mark Ring
& My Ladies Bulova Open-heart Watch
I bought for My Self
My Son & I
walked on The Hawk Beach
& talked of how humidity
can extend waves of sound
& how The Guzzle
could possibly have moved
from Its former sandy river bed
to parallel The Dunes
& how breeds of dogs
get bred for certain aspects
like liking water
or how foxes were bred
to be domesticated
& how Peak might get a dog
when He goes travelling
& have His Father or Me
look after It when He goes really far away —
My Son & I
Dear Diary —
I watched Eliza
dab at Her Hair in The Dining Room Mirror
& realized “My Daughter Has The Power To Kill”
while I became immortalized
at the age of eighteen
by telling My Only Real Boyfriend:
“You’re Just Another Face, Another Dick”
To Sing The Song of The Hummingbird
I write to say I Saw One Today
buzzing in Our bedraggled Apple
& finding Nothing There
buzzed away beyond The House —
I may never see Its Greenness again
What would Its sight portend?
–
I drove with Eliza
& Her First Serious Boyfriend Tyler
to La Creamy Treat in Pubnico
on The Highway Home
Two Flying Objects hit the wind shield
Eliza, driving, pronounced “I killed
Two Hummingbirds with One Car –”
Tyler, from The Back Seat
resolutely announced “I saved
A Hummingbird caught in a Spider Web”
What wonder in a flock of tweeting
twittering Birds overhead —
I heard Them coming before I saw Them —
They began to break up above Me
as I eagerly watched to see Them form Letters
of The Alphabet —
Letters maybe to divine a message
but how could I expect Those Birds —
that Body of Bird Life —
to know My Language?
These Are The Neighbourhood Sounds
Which Drive Me Off My Deck:
Lawnmowers
Weed Eaters
Auto Body Grinders
Skill Saws
Chain Saws
Various Hammerings
Is That Enough?
–
These Are The Sounds That Keep Me:
The Waves
The Surf
The Fog Horns
The Peepers
The Wind in The Leafy Hedge
The Birds — Jays, Crows, Gulls, Willets,
Mourning Doves, Robins, Grackles, Starlings, Warblers, Chickadees
Isn’t That Enough?
–
What do The Gulls think
when They eat a food They’ve never had —
like Spanish Rice and Sausage —
What do The Crows think?
The Fog has sunk
into My Left Shoulder
–I can’t do The Laundry–
–I shouldn’t even be writing–
Peak & Eliza have gone to Lunenburg
with Their Father & His Family
My Day Is Grey
but I’m OK–
isn’t that awful?
Joanna Gilman Hyde 