The Hawk Queen Bed 9:22pm
Who was it who said
“Old Age Creeps Up On You”?
He should be shot —
Old Age comes over You in waves
when You’re not even the one
Who’s old
when It’s Your Elderly Relative
perhaps a dear old ex mother-in-law
with bad circulation
or Hunter’s Best Friend
with no kidney function
or an old goat of a cousin
Who wants only to die
on Her Goat Farm in Vermont —
These are The Waves —
and They wash over You
and try to get You
and there’s nothing
You can do
The Tomato-coloured Couch 5:12pm
I have just spent an hour at least
shielding My Eyes from the sun
to watch a flock of Starlings
starting in Our Yard —
heading across the street
in elongated splashes of sparkle
every time They took off —
and matted together on either
roof lines, grass or wires
in Their elusive group-think
I would give anything
to know
The Tomato-coloured Couch 3:46pm
How dare they try
to count The Stars
by saying every one
is just a speck of sand
on all The World’s Beaches
— if that is the case
I have just traversed
trillions on My Walk
to The Guzzle Rock
covered in barnacles —
should I count them too?
Clark’s Harbour Red & White 6:00pm
I just ordered a sodalite ring
to make Me feel better
It’s coming next week
when I will have begun
My Concept 2 March Madness Challenge
when I will be rowing
10,000 metres a day
for the muddy month of March
& I will earn
My Power Ring
& I will wear It
proudly
The Hawk Living Room 8:30pm
The Time has Come
to write of My Floor
My Platform of The Universe
laid out like a sea
The Foundation of My Living Room –
I come downstairs
seeing It from above
to pick up stray galaxies
of cat hair bundles
— maybe only one or two —
along the vast expanse
of My Extreme Meanderings
The Hawk Kitchen 2:07pm
I put on My Green Apron —
“Pinny” as My Scottish Husband
calls It —
in It
I am The Uniform
of Domesticity
ready to cook
up
a chicken casserole
with the radio
up
LOUD
The Hawk Kitchen Outpost 7:55am
My Mother was My Guiding Star
I hang Her Portrait
above My Door
She led Me straight
to never lie
& held Me close
until She died
The Hawk Dining Room 6:57am
I got up to let out
a cat
& saw My Painting
in the sky —
I saw the orange and purple
laid out before Me
stretched along the horizon
& I am filled with a knowing
happiness
as I see the pink turn
to gold
& the ball of licking light
rise
The Hawk Kitchen Outpost 7:28am
I see the pale disc
of sun, looking like a golden coin
on the rise
through a streak of cloud
moving into its halo
soaked up
by its own illumination
The Hawk Kitchen Outpost 12:32pm
My Piece of Ocean
is My Window’s glorious portion
of sea-salt scape complete
with two charming abodes
down on the shore
with slate-blue water in front
& the scrub spruce
between Me
& their roof-lines
Joanna Gilman Hyde 