Joanna Gilman Hyde

September 19th, 2026

The Hawk Queen Bed

7:00 am

My Father’s Birthday —

Francois Michael Louis Tonetti Hyde

named after The Sculptor

He could never live up 2 —

My Father could play the cello

& sing

& why is it that we must

always list Our Talents?

He married My Mother

(They were Childhood Playmates)

January 30th, 1960

& took His First Child,

Me,

2 Gabon, Africa

where My Brother was conceived

& where My Mother

said She had the worst year

of Her Life.

When I was a teenager

I asked Mom,

“What was Dad’s job in Africa?”

She answered,

“He was teaching Africans

how 2 drive tractors.”

In 1974 My Father went bankrupt

on His dairy farm

in upstate New York

& moved His 2nd Family

2 Tehran, Iran

leaving Me

2 miss My Stepsister Thea

more than I missed My Father —

He left Tehran under evacuation

& wound up

in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia

working in “The Shipping Business”

for 25 years —

retiring 2 His 2nd Wife’s rundown farmhouse

in Vermont

where He woke up at 4:00 am

2 drive patients 2 hospitals

for casual employment.

Did Eye love My Father?

I guess I did,

butt My Mother tried

2 turn Me against Him

& took Me 2 court w Her

when She was suing Him

for child support

& had His Early American Furniture

sequestrated:

Big Brown pieces

She told Me more than once

She never did like 2 oil

w Lemon Oil

(& She disliked ironing

His white shirts for work)

so why did She marry Him?

I asked Her that 2

& She answered:

“I married Your Father

for 3 Reasons:

2 hold onto My Childhood,

because I loved His Family,

& I couldn’t stand the thought

of anyone else marrying Him.”