Eye tried to paint
a mushroom cloud
and out it came
just like a shroud
looks to me
could be a tree —
or standing back
brain imagery
Possibility
of The Devil proffered but
fiercely rejected
By Timely Construction
There Exists
One Room
in M(eye) House
for The Undernourished
The Devastated
The Sublime —
held in port
for The Outcome
of Disaster
and Love
Eye went to sleep
with the sound of peepers
and when I woke
the morning’s keepers
sweetly tweeted through
the fog —
For All Existance
Eye Thanked God
M(eye) Estranged Husband
is a Hot Ticket
in His Office
and on the internet —
He’s got one of my closest friends
after Him already
and She’s Age
Appropriate
Eye savoured a crescent
moon of gold
above M(eye) sea
of darkened cold —
the sky was streaked
with auburn red —
above the lights
upon which Eye fed
I
He used to say:
“I love Your Toes –”
and didn’t know why
so nobody knows
II
He once wrote:
“I love You to distraction –”
It came at a time
when I was a fraction
of My Former Self
at His Behest
when We were installed
as His Daughter’s Guests
III
Her voice rang clear
the morning We left:
“You don’t give a fuck
about your grandchildren — ”
and so goes My Quest
for compensation regarding My Past
twenty years of seclusion by Him —
He Who assured Me
He never would fail
to deliver support
if I fell off The Rail
which I did once or twice
(but not into His Arms)
though I stayed as His Wife
and buttered His Charms
IV
It’s over now —
I’m cutting My Loss
of One Child’s Silence
I am willing to toss
to remain in My Stead
I ask to be free
of The Bonds of This Marriage
strung on The Cross
I sat and sat
to catch The Rise
fulfilling My Daily View
Eye turned to let a cat
inside
and beheld
My Sun-struck Pew
Three little roof lines
laced along the trees
silhouetted against the seas
adjacent to the skies —
I love to look out
this way to the Eastward
view of My Own —
I wake up here every day
when the dawn presents
Itself to Home
The Kiss of Death
Is on his head
And who has placed it there?
A needle pokes
Through his clay locks
To slay his silver hair —
He says to all who dare
To hear
“She is mad l’m afraid –”
To me he says
“No you are fine
And will always be
My Dear”
Joanna Gilman Hyde 