The Hawk Deck 9:32am
I have seen The Little Grey & Yellow Bird
open Its Beak, twice,
to sing Its Morning Tune
to fly away
& return
to chirp again
and so all is right
in My World
My Painting will lead The Way
to The Global Stabilization
We are awaiting
in Our Hearts
& Mind
The Hawk Portico 7:44pm
I have an attitudinal stance
toward The Surf
Its Sound
projects My Hips forward
My Arms are casually folded
My Head juts
from a profile view
I might be sloped like an S
from the back
I would look held in
crouched
like The Nautilus
The Tomato-coloured Couch 6:11pm
I had to interrupt cooking supper
to write about laying out
four plastic Canadian fifties
for My Daughter’s allowance
allowing enough for a sports bra
to buy on a trip to Halifax
with Her Boyfriend
— $200.00 bucks flat out —
I was struck by the recollection
of a roll of American twenties
wadded into My Starving Palm
counted out in the bathroom
of a Japanese Piano Bar in New York:
— $200.00 bucks tootsie-rolled
into a promise to be taken
to Korea to do an art project
but delivered in a Waldorf elevator
with the push
to accompany The Korean Minister of Defence
into His Room
where all I could do
was to declare
in plain English:
“There has been some mistake.”
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 Hawk Living Room 7:30pm
I ate My Potato Salad
& drank a beer
here by the open Living Room Window
at the edge of The Tomato-coloured Couch
but that was at the edge of The Galaxy
where stars burst & die
I would lie My Head on a blanket
& listen to the aftershocks
wafting through
on the surge
of ocean mist
& bird call
May 1st The Hawk Queen Bed 10:05pm
The First, five feet by seven, hung illuminated
like a single flame
in a New York City Rug District Window —
I gasped and gaped and walked inside
whereupon an alert salesman
showed Me The Larger Companion lying flat —
a Chinese carved nine by eleven
solid red
He said I could have Both for Two Thousand Dollars
Now Where Was A Starving Artist
in 1985
going to get Two Thousand Dollars to spend
on the double richness of wool from China
for an apartment barely big enough to accommodate one rug?
Her only job was working in a Japanese Piano Bar
where She diluted Chivas Regal with water and ice
and lit Japanese Business Men’s cigarettes
for an hourly wage of ten tax-free dollars
until two in the morning six nights a week
At this job She was expected to converse
and to Her Advantage She spoke of Her Art Projects —
one completed on the roof of The Commodities Exchange Building
of The World Trade Center
and Her Next Project:
A Bracelet for The Statue of Liberty
for The 1986 Centennial of New York’s Present from France —
One Very Nice Business Man Named Yoshi
handed over a check for Two Thousand Dollars —
with no expectations —
This Check burned Its way into cash
and when Joanna was informed by The National Parks Department
that there was no way in Hell She would be allowed
to put The Bracelet, yet to be made, ON The Arm
She decided to do something She wasn’t accustomed to doing:
She gave up Her Project
bought the rugs
and slept on Them in Her Bedless Studio Apartment
on St. Mark’s Place
Lower East Side of Manhattan
Highway 103, NS 5:00pm
Today at The Halifax Shopping Centre
I saw Two Muslim Women
talking on cell phones
through Head Scarves —
One Face completely veiled —
This Day when Hunter bought
smoky quartz earrings
for My Early Birthday
The Hawk West Desk Window 2:10pm
I have seized the mystical
2222
against a patch of blue
on My Basement Wall
I glimpsed It, blinked It
from My C2 Rower
measuring metres/distance
for My Preparatory Trip
to another
Galaxy
The Hawk TV Room 7:39pm
Sitting in The Director’s Chair
Dark Brown Leather
Simon Chang Dark Grey Pants
Leather Josef Seibel Shoes
White Socks, White Underwear
Nude Victoria’s Secret Bra 36B
Esty Endless Swirl Stirling Bangle, Left Wrist
Boluva Ladies Open Heart Watch, Right
Birks Diamond, Gold, Platinum Wedding
& Engagement Rings, Left Ring Finger
Birks Quartz Crystal Gold & Diamond Question Mark Ring —
Right Middle Finger
I’m Ready for Hackers
Stalkers
Terrorists
The American Government
Joanna Gilman Hyde 