She got off The Bus
at Christian Herald Road
& Mountainview Avenue
to climb up The Hill
holding Webster’s Collegiate Dictionary
on Her 4th Grade Hip
Title Showing
I have on My Play Dress:
My hand-embroidered calf-length Mexican House Dress
It’s White
with Black Campeche Stitching
It’s airy around My Lap
when I sit in My Red Deck Chair
one knee up
I did have A Favourite Toy
and I still have Her:
a lopsided little bear
named “Bear Bear”
Who never spoke
She wore a doll’s bathrobe
and sat languidly
in the vicinity
of My Brother’s tough hefty “Bunny”
Who did speak
using a husky guttural voice
Joanna Gilman Hyde 