The Tomato-coloured Couch 6:47pm
I was That 37 Year-old
with The New Haircut
back from Pass
— why was I even in There?
Because I thought
I was The Second Coming of Christ
wearing A Sign on My Blouse
“Waiting To Be Believed”
with A Helium Balloon tied
to My Very Thin Wrist
being told by Nurses
to take off My “inappropriate” Sign
& My Balloon
so They would agree
to talk to Me
The Hawk Corner Room 2:38pm
I sit upstairs in The Corner Room
temporarily vacated by Eliza
I look out to the layers of grey
in My Winter Sky
I wear My Usual Black
& wonder why
I have an anonymous Gravatar
The Tomato-coloured Couch 7:15pm
When My First Husband told Me
He Loved Me
I wore a floral summer dress
to receive My Canadian Citizenship
He was renting a room
outside of Halifax
for a movie job
— He was a Master Carpenter —
I stayed the night with Him
— brought The Children —
in the sparse house of a Scientologist
— the only books were Scientology —
in the dark, quietly
with Eliza in Her portable crib
& Peak on a spare bed
I heard “I Love You”
in My Left Ear
The Hawk Kitchen 12:50pm
I was That Nice Young Woman
balancing babies on My Left Hip
splitting firewood for The Atlantic Stove
hair shoulder length
smiling for photographs
coping with My Mother’s Illness
but not Her Death
Illuminated by The Shower of Lights
I descended into Depression
spanning eight years
pulled out by The Arms
of My Doctor
Who became My Second Husband
–
In This 22nd Year My Hair is short
children grown
I wear black
and block My Heart
in A Vault of Silver
The Hawk Corner Room 12:15pm
I Stand At Attention
with The Ocean View before Me
with The Picture of My Mother’s Face
wearing only Her Orange Lipstick —
Her Heavy-lidded Eyes
Green and Happy —
I Am Here because of Her
and My Arrival has taken
Eons
Joanna Gilman Hyde 