Joanna Gilman Hyde

May 18, 2025

The Tomato-coloured Couch

11:00 pm

Mexico has M(eye) Daughter —

She’s in love w/ a Mayan Man

& Her Dog Conchita —

THE IDEAL DOG —

a foundling so

Eye call M(eye) Self “Grammy” —

Well, in a very old cardboard box

removed from The Attic of Peter’s Parents’

Eye found Prized Possessions

thought long ago 2 be gone forever:

The Candlestick Lady —

the porcelain Statue

missing one hand

from M(eye) Great Grandmother

on M(eye) Mother’s Side

& M(eye) 1st Art Award

bestowed by Nyack Public Schools

June 21st, 1973

framed by M(eye) Grandfather

in Black & Gold —

These 2 Precious Sentimentalities

were accompanied by

The Wooden Boat Model

of M(eye) Grandfather’s punt WYNKEN

complete w/ miniature oars, painter,

oarlocks made of fashioned wire.

THEN in that same forlorn box

Eye found an object

from M(eye) Very Early Childhood

for which Eye had no recollection

of how It came 2 be here in Nova Scotia —

M(eye) Last Living Memory

of Its Glassed-in Encasement

of ancient paper flowers

surrounding the now faceless figure

of a Little Doll-like Apparition

was The Memory of Its Shadowbox

perched on top of a cupboard

in M(eye) Father’s Cousin’s dining room

for Me at 3 in Awe

looking at a tiny glass household

containing shreds of coloured mylar

captivating M(eye) Eyes

w/ Its Glinting Mystery…

— as an adult

Eye assumed It had come from Italy

a relic of M(eye) Great Grandfather Tonetti

& thought It to be only a sacred memory

— butt NO — now 60 Years Later

Eye suddely possessed

M(eye) Cherished Childhood

& looked underneath

Its darkened tin casing

2 read The Imprint

M-E-X-I-C-O