My Daughter stood above Me
on The Hawk Balcony
wearing an off-white sweater
She slipped on a pearl earring
Her Face was “Done”
She looked like the apparition
of An Angel
— I wished I could just send
My Mother’s Island Possession
over to Her —
but She’s going to Her Boyfriend’s hockey game
& turning 18 tomorrow
& now She’s changed
into a grey sweatshirt
I want My Daddy
to come tuck Me in
— My Real Daddy who wasn’t Real
He’s Dead —
I want My WHB
to tuck Me in
with His Soft Words
& careful careful touch —
I’ve taken My Pills
2 Hours in advance
of Bedtime
The Hawk Living Room 2:26pm
Why try to rectify
the capture of another Bird
by Our collarless cat
The Huntress?
This one didn’t die
It was merely shocked
but in My upset
I saw what I had left:
the embodiment of My Depression
like a terrible wound
before I found happiness
in a healing World
of My Own
The Hawk Red Deck Chair 12:15pm
Oh My God! — That’s My Mother
Telling Me To Write This Poem
— It’s The Chickadees
flitting around The Scraggly Apple
telling Me to write down
what I did one Christmas
in Cooper Union —
I asked My Unmarried Economics Teacher
to be a Christmas Present
for My Mother
& He said Yes!
so I wrote Mom a note
for Christmas Morning
that a Man was coming to visit
He came to Christmas Dinner
in Valley Cottage
— My Grandfather was there too —
now Pappy, The Teacher, My Mother, My Brother
are all dead
but The Chickadee-dee-dees
are alive
& chirping
The Hawk Deck 8:50am
I hear the distant rumble of surf
while waiting for coffee to steep
The Sun Is Out Full
We’re Awake From Our Sleep
–
The Hawk Kitchen 10:47am
I drink in The Water
from The Well @ The Hawk
& think of My Present
emerging from My Past
into The Future
of Everyone
The Hawk Deck 6:55pm
I looked for a rainbow today —
the conditions seemed ripe for one —
all I got to see
was a pink sky in The East
after supper
a grey sky & salmon clouds
I wondered if I
might be in one
The Hawk Deck 2:15pm
I have been oppressed
by My Free-wheeling Notion of God
I have overlooked
My Innate Intelligence
as It compares to “The Divine”
Yes I saw a Shower Of Lights
proving the existence of “God”
to Me
but I have been haunted still
by questions raised
from This Supreme Experience
The Hawk Living Room 4:35pm
I wrote a poem
in the 3rd grade
inspired by the movie
“Ring Of Bright Water”
which was the only movie
I had seen besides
“The Sound Of Music”
— The Poem hasn’t survived
but I remember being captivated
by The Sparkles In The Sun
to write My Last Line:
“for the beautiful scene had just begun”
Joanna Gilman Hyde 