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…

“Even if the trees

get pulled up

or torn down

it won’t matter

to your mother”

Kristine Zoodedoo

No, it won’t matter to My Mother

She’s dead

with Her Monument to Death beneath Them,

Her white-blossomed Garden of Eden

And why should it matter to Me?

I’m alive

and have

My One Scraggly Apple

in My Back Yard

by The Sea

Joanna Hyde
 March 11th 2012   The Hawk

acrylic on canvas 26" x 36" circa 1983
By Joanna Hyde

 The Tribal Leader

–

sits in black

on Her Portico

listening to the starlings

sputter & cackle

 –

one black sleeve

fringed

illuminates The Red

 –

Laser Glitter Spot

 –

zooming through a nearly full

wine glass

of primitive essence

Now it is The Evening

what has She accomplished

Today?

–

Her Teenage Daughter

has the TV on

but Her Mother is away

removed

from a show on Muslim Fundamentalists

–

The Mother is out in The Evening Sun

on Her Portico

eyeballing

The Red Laser Glitter Spot

&

sipping

from

It

–

Joanna Hyde
March 23rd 2012   The Hawk Portico   6:10pm 

Jordan Bay comes equipped

with one pet cemetery

one grandparent cemetery

& one uncle’s remains

My Brother never got there

“Down Where The Lilies Blow”

though He owned the place

inherited by my father

now dead

so Jordan Bay’s up for sale

by my step mother

at a reduced asking price —

could that be the price

of My Sentimentality?

One House & Barn

needs demolishing

one cellar hole needs filling

The Place could be brought back

to its original state

when The Indians were living

there alongside the cove

I rowed across alone

Joanna Hyde
 March 25th 2012   The Hawk

April 9th 2012   The Hawk Deck

10:54am

WHAT DOES XTC STAND FOR?

I feel like an ad

in Outdoor Living Magazine —

no I don’t —

I feel primitive

rooted to the rhythm of the waves

& the twinkling of the smaller birds

11:10am

I’ve taped the XTC Lyrics

for Dear God

into the back of this book

MY BOOK

is that enough?

Or should Jackie post Them

on pointsthruprose

for Easter Monday?

April 9th 2012   The Hawk West Window   11:45am

STATEMENT FOR EASTER MONDAY

When We Cry We Excrete Salt Water

Like The Surface Of The Earth

We Are Of The Earth

And God Has Been Trying To Tell Us

That

For Billions Of Years

Joanna Hyde

She Stands:

Tower of Feminine Strength

in Hot Pink Stilettos

She will never topple

stumble

break

There’s Been Too Much Of That

Joanna Hyde
April 5th 2012   The Hawk   9:31pm

The Yoke of My Mother

now hangs around the neck

of My Daughter —

something I swore would never happen —

Today My Daughter wears The Locket

of antique gold with one pearl

and a picture of Her Namesake

on a new cleavage-length chain

from the Barrington Jewelry Store

–

I announced in JB’s

over a beer:

You are wearing

The Legacy of Your Grandmother —

a woman from a long line of women

Who Believe

ANYTHING IS POSSIBLE

Joanna Hyde
April 11th 2012   The Hawk West Window   5:25pm

 

The Jays are from My Childhood
            in Valley Cottage --
The Fog Horn from The Island --

here I have My Jays --
here I have My Horn 

a Woman comes along The Road
with a Little Blond Boy – I hear Him

a Little Blond Boy – I hear Him
 

The Mourning Dove sits upon a wire
            I hear Her
            I hear Her
            I hear

Joanna Hyde
April 15th 2012   The Hawk Portico   1:29pm

–

This Universe is Rolled Out

like a Red Carpet

I have Kitty Litter Stars

stuck to My Knees

Galaxies of Cat Hair

yet to be disposed of

maybe The Dust Mites

have heard My Prayer

–

By Joanna Hyde
April 24th 2012   The Hawk West Window   10:48am