Joanna Gilman Hyde

acrylic and chicken wire on canvas
8 feet by 10 feet
painted circa 1982 in rebellion to galleries of "pretty pictures" while 
a student at Cooper Union

by Joanna Hyde

SAM

 In A Golden Cage

Lives My Bird Named Sam

He Likes Fruit

But Doesn’t Like Ham

He Has A Red Neck

And Is Green As Can Be

When I Look At Him

He Looks At Me

I Wouldn’t Like A Parrot

The Colour Of A Carrot —

I’d Only Like Sam

Who Doesn’t Like Ham

–

"I wrote when I was nine and recited it to Mrs. Lee's 4th grade class at Valley Cottage Elementary in 1971."
Joanna Hyde
January 12, 2012 The Hawk

Artist’s Note:

The Bird named Sam was a Christmas present when I was nine years old and infatuated with a pair of love birds my mother could not afford.  She had tried to warn me off…