“I’m going into Barrington with Tyler”
“What for?”
“To watch The Fireworks at The Tree Lighting
— look what I’m wearing –“
“Let Me get My Glasses”
“My Burberry Scarf — don’t I look cute?
I look like a rich girlfriend
Who gets lots of nice
things”
The Hawk West Desk Window 8:00am
It’s Time I Said Good-Bye
to My Mother
right from where I stand Today
I will not be going out to The Island
with The Alternative Energy Tech —
My Daughter will go in My Stead —
I can rely on Eliza
as My Mother relied on Me —
I will not be going down memory lane
to The Thoreau House in the woods
built by My Mother’s Perfect Son-in-law
I will not be going There —
I will not be sweeping up dead flies
in My Mother’s Island House —
I swept the flies there alone once
when I was 18 — Eliza’s age —
to open The Place for My Mother’s arrival —
Today Eliza will be readying for a prospective buyer
& I will not be walking down to The Lower Orchard
to visit My Mother’s Limestone Squirrel
perched on Her Granite Marker —
Today I Stand in Eliza’s Corner Room upstairs
Here At The Hawk
& gaze upon The Panorama of Sun’s Rays
filtering down on My Atlantic Home
The Hawk Portico 1:15pm
On A Day Like Lovely Today
Eighteen Years Ago
I Laboured All Day
With My Daughter
Who Was Hardly A Labour
Born Into An Inflatable Pool
@ 9:04 That Night:
She Came Out PERFECT
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
The Hawk Deck 11:10am
I am married to A Very Handsome Doctor
even if He does have some age on Him
It adds to His Allure of Talk
on Occam’s Razor
I live in A Beautiful House By The Sea
& have all the breakfast supplies I need
a basement warehouse of foodstuffs & toilet paper
I have My Mother’s Play House on an island
& My Beautiful Daughter with Her Hot Shot Boyfriend
— He can finance A Mansion at the age of nineteen —
They’re already looking at House Plans
The Hawk Portico 5:55pm
I planned to sit down with My Daughter
to have a talk about Her Future
instead She showed Me Her Purchases
from Frenchy’s — designer 2nd hand —
& lovingly cradled Her Louis Vuitton
brown leather hand bag:
“I’ll never let anything happen
to this —
I’ll have It ’till I die
& I’m not joking”
My Daughter’s Room is Lavender
“Purple” She calls It
& doesn’t like It
The Carpet is white
with old crayon
from previous kids
She bought new sheets today
Purple
& a White Comforter
She said would make
Her hate The Room less
She bought a White Orchid
with Purple in The Centre
& flowers for a heavy glass vase
& here I sit by Her Shaded Window
listening to The Waves
Joanna Gilman Hyde 