EYE have hung M(eye) X
upon the wall
below M(eye) Painting
bought
of someone’s old house
done in pink —
a Nova Scotia house
out in the bleak
Eye have hung My Portrait
upon the wall
above His Books
Eye would forestall
We’re in a contest
to & fro
& Eye don’t care
where He goes
He thought Eye would write
pretty poems
& paint Him pictures of blue
& white
He was wrong
for Eye have come
to see Him as
My Only Plight
if Eye could dip His Head
in Black
I would fight
for My Self
back
but He has The Bucks
Eye need to live
& so Eye am helpless
to forgive
It was in a dream
Eye gave M(eye) Arms
to badly needed rest —
Eye used The Body
of M(eye) X
to make a cross
upon M(eye) Bed
Where is My Poison Ring?
The Silver Casing w/ Black
Onyx
My Mother gave Me
When Eye turned 13?
Every Spermatozoon is a STAR
Every birth a miracle
Eye live in a bastion
Of Human survival
Where the women don’t drink
And make their homes
For their families
Where they compare notes
Of husbands and ex’s
And children grown
And make their beds
For each other
Eye have had a long day
And there is a rose
On my vanity
For my mother
From my mother
Made from her long black chain
And my red satin hair holder
Knotted as the bud
He was just a shoulder
Undulating in the shadows
Of My Night Light
My Mother played
In Her Nova Scotia island house
Held up by summer rental income
From her beaver board home
In Valley Cottage
Held up by her parents’
Favouritism
Held up by her children’s
Love
Of their mother’s
Spunk
And their mother’s love
Of Place
Joanna Gilman Hyde 