Joanna Gilman Hyde

NOTE: Poem titled Two Evening Dresses

first appears in my 677 page manuscript titled NO BONES ABOUT IT, written before the inception of this blog, prior to April 2012.  It is included here as reference for comparison to the following poem titled Two Dresses O’ mine

Two Evening Dresses

December 28th, 2009

The Shakespeare House

Shelburne, Nova Scotia

When I was 8 or 9

I went to Lord & Taylor’s

with My Mother & Granmama

to buy evening dresses

for My Mother’s Affair*

She chose a bubbling brown & gold chiffon

high-waisted

& a sleek black sleeveless

with silver accent trim

under the bust line

I was very happy for Her.

I never saw Those Dresses on My Mother —

They got put up in The Attic every summer

& after She died

The Black One fell apart

in a spray of black filaments

on the floor of Eliza’s bedroom closet

*the year-long affair w Bob Wilber,

jazz musician, who broke my mother’s heart twice when he got remarried to Joanne (Pug) Horton, seven years later.

Two Dresses O’ mine

July 19, 2025

The Hawk Deck

9:57 am

1 White (wedding)

1 Black (theatrical)

1 stored away in a basement garment bag

1 hanging in M(eye) Corner Room Closet

both costing originally $300.00 each —

The 1st: My off-white high-collared,

long-sleeved chiffon w/ floral hem

(hand-drawn prophetically in Jr. High)

worn for My Mother’s Show

2 Peter Lynn Haeghaert

38 years ago

stained now

w/ tiny brown specks

here & there

like The Baby’s Breath

I held

in The Wedding Portrait on M(eye) Fridge:

What Did That Wedding Mean 2 Me?

I do not remember eating The Cake

created by an artistic family of neighbours

in Jordan Bay —

I do not remember

feeling “Overwhelmed w/ Happiness” —

(perhaps I wasn’t)

I felt I was performing —

climbing into a rowboat

in “My Going Away” outfit

of green & white vertical striping

& red straw cap & pony tail —

married off 2 a capable gentleman

9 years My Senior —

2 be The Father

of M(eye) 2.4 Children —

Now 2 write of The Black Dress:

The Oprah Winfrey 50’s style —

full-skirted, elastic bodiced

3/4 sleeves

w/ silver buttons —

It was & is a dramatic dress

& Eye would wear It

dramatic upon The Tomato-coloured Couch

15 years ago

married 2 Dr Blair’s

ignorance…

These Two Dresses

are Opposites —

The 1st symbolizing

newness, freshness & innocence —

The 2nd symbolizing

daring, danger & mystery —

& Eye possess Both

Still —

right Gully?

Eva was asleep

So by the exit

The Lounge was full

of His Audience —

Elders in Their Wheelchairs

gathered, assembled

listening to “The Master of The Wind”

and “He Who Holds Tomorrow”

* poem to honour Eva’s Memorial Service today, four years after her death August 26th, 2021

July 15th, 2025

The Hawk Deck

7:30 am

After pork renderings marinated

in maple syrup & mustard,

Gully is off 2 who knows where

butt M(eye) Neighbour informed Me

from across the road

She’s seen Gully @ Her Scraps

so He’s Double Dipping —

Eye vocalized, “He won’t let Me

pet Him — that’s M(eye) Next Goal –“

(Oh, Eye Love Him So…)

July 13th, 2025

The Hawk Kitchen Outpost

7:19 am

Eye have stepped into Seniority

w/ new Nordic walking poles

lent by M(eye) Physiotherapist

2 help correct

a spine that slipped

9 millimeters off its bottom

butt there’s no correcting,

only The Prescription 2 lose 20 lbs

& Walk, Walk, Walk

July 13th, 2025

The Hawk Green Chair

6:05 am

Of The Zillion Marriages

Eye have been through

@ not one of the weddings

was Eye happy —

The One 2 Peter

Light Years ago

was M(eye) Mother’s Show

& The One 2 Dr Blair

by M(eye) Arrangement

was curtains

July 12th, 2025

Annapolis Royal Historic Gardens

11:15 am

Eye have meandered through

M(eye) 1st Rose Garden

(unless the yellow & white

of M(eye) Grandmother’s garden path

still counts)

Eye took in the blossoms’ colours,

inhaling the over-written scents

up close & personal

on this day

of M(eye) 1st Husband’s 2nd Wedding

July 12, 2025

Annapolis Royal Historic Gardens

10:26 am

A Woman is A Flower

every layer veiled

w/ the succulence of purity

& scent of Attraction

for nearly everyone around Her:

those who do not see Her

as well as those who see Her clearly

NOTE: a tourist 2 The Gardens said,

“I’ll walk into town — I’ve been here before.”

July 11th, 2025

The Hawk Green Chair

12:30 pm

Within Dark Hours

for M(eye) Daughter

& for Me

(thanks 2 men Eye do not wish 2 compare)

a small stone lay

w/ The Word Hope

painted upon It

beside M(eye) deck

within Jerome’s sleeping spot —

The Stone HAD been kept

inside a glass bowl

(w/ other rocks worth keeping)

so HOW It got outside

is beyond Me

butt It did Its job today

accompanied by The Personal Prayer

of Our Honourable Baptist Minister

July 9th, 2025

The Hawk Queen Bed

5:16 am

The Summer of 1999

encapsulated The Affair w Dr Blair —

a mighty mistake

landing Me

in The Corruption of a 2nd marriage

based on sex, drugs, coercive control —

& now, divorced since June of 2020

w his upcoming Judgement set against Me

Eye must step out of Victimhood

& sue The B’ Jesus

out of his 85 year old ass*

*Eye am deliberately practicing “age-ism”

July 9th, 2025

The Hawk Queen Bed

4:54 am

M(eye) WORK Self Organizing Galaxy

lies entombed

somewhere inside Clarkstown Landfill*

capped

thanks 2 M(eye) 1st husband

set 2 re-marry

on Saturday

*Rockland County, New York