Spring Rain

This black life
this conversing with shadows

& what about reality
or economic aspects,
restricting movement,
halting growth
or the children in a room apart
torturing themselves?

are we not mutations
reconciling diverse things?

is not water
a symbol of life
& this life of death?

is not that haze
before my eyes
spring rain?

Autistic

A re-ordering
or placing of objects in the mind...

one begins choosing
or switching selves
from the ideal to reality

or lying down
in a room
I knew:
outside
ladies in girdles
grotesque   ludicrous

men lined up
& applauded
& it appeared...
no, it was
as if a game
were anticipated

I don't know the rules
but I have assurances
from many sources
that it doesn't matter

The Only Flag

Our mornings indict us.
I have seen it in your eyes,
stark as streets swarm
with sterile savages.

I have no one but you
& you none but me--
& Baby the mathematics of it
are frightening.

Let's go back to bed
lie down together
& forget our fears,
hearts pounding
to the rhythm of love
& your flaming hair
our banner
for that brief moment.

- Hawkins (Nil Press, Ottawa, 1966)