The Hawk Basement 10:22am
Emanating from The Spears
of black & silver
Light
I have applied
an edge of lurid green
to My Purple Heart
The Hawk Portico NOON
I am dressed to paint
My Killer Lines
of Dagger Points
in My Black Lace Bra
& Black Jesus Underwear
I hear The Chickadee’s
approval
before I begin
I just have to draw
The Silver Blades
out
The Hawk Queen Bed 9:11pm
I am going to paint
The Shower Of Lights
Yes — That Creepy Shower
which befell Me
on that famous date —
no — not October 22nd, 1993
BEFORE THAT — March 31st, 1993
I am going to do It
Justice
I am going to order
a 10-foot-long x 5-foot-wide
piece of canvas from Halifax
to be shipped — yes
I will be waiting for art supplies
again, but this time, this time
I will be ready
The Hawk Deck 8:45am
I’ve caught the liquid sun
to the call of The Chickadee
I see iridescent blue now
when I close My Eyes
& look again
The Tomato-coloured Couch 9:22pm
There is Divine Logic
in All that happens
& It wouldn’t happen
otherwise
The Hawk Deck 8:20am
At Night I go to sleep
with the sweep of Cape Light
turned to My Bed
in the morning I wake
to step out on My Deck
immersed in the dew
with the waves
at My Head
The Hawk Outpost 6:49pm
The Scraggly Apple
is illuminated
with the eastern clouds
a rare mauve pink
The moon is up
My Fuchsia Painting is finished
& My Husband has said
I can hang It over
The Tomato-coloured Couch
The Hawk Utility Room 7:56pm
I stood above
My Mother’s Killer
dying on the basement floor
I thought of all
I’ve done to fill Her
and now can sleep
forever more
The Tomato-coloured Couch 6:19pm
My Mother’s Brain Tumour
is dying
on the basement floor
is soon to be
enveloped by
perhaps a silver heart
but
the “roots”
will
survive
The Tomato-coloured Couch 5:00pm
On This Day in 1991
I was told My Mother wouldn’t live
through the spring
I vowed to My Self
I would not feel the pain
of Her Loss
I kept My Vow
Joanna Gilman Hyde 