Joanna Gilman Hyde

The Tomato-coloured Couch 3:10pm

Once there was a little girl

whose mother died from a brain tumour

& the little girl didn’t sleep for four days

On the fourth day, March 31st 1993

the little girl looked for a sign

that she was going to be al-right

& the phone rang —

a nurse from the hospital was calling

to see if the little girl was al-right

& when the little girl said:

“DoDo, I Don’t Know How I Am”

The Nurse said She Would Come Right Over

The Little Girl hung up the phone

& went into Her Mother’s Kitchen

(but She doesn’t remember why)

whereupon She was struck

with the realization of an all-knowing

all-seeing Presence

She didn’t know what had just happened

so She went back to the daybed

where She had been trying to sleep

& as She sat, was sitting

The Cathedral Ceiling above

suddenly filled with Silver Streaks

of Light

Showering Down Upon Her

as She Cried Out

“Oh My God!

OH MY GOD!

OH MY GOD!”