Joanna Gilman Hyde

"Good Morning, World!"

And So Will The World

The Hawk Queen Bed 9:11pm

I am going to paint

The Shower Of Lights

Yes — That Creepy Shower

which befell Me

on that famous date —

no — not October 22nd, 1993

BEFORE THAT — March 31st, 1993

I am going to do It

Justice

I am going to order

a 10-foot-long x 5-foot-wide

piece of canvas from Halifax

to be shipped — yes

I will be waiting for art supplies

again, but this time, this time

I will be ready

TO MY FAITHFUL FOLLOWERS:

Tonight Marks The Thirtieth Anniversary

of The Signing of

Self Organizing Galaxy

Thank You For Watching

MORNING BLINK

The Hawk Deck 8:45am

I’ve caught the liquid sun

to the call of The Chickadee

I see iridescent blue now

when I close My Eyes

& look again

PLACES

The Tomato-coloured Couch 5:35pm

I am in the psychiatric unit

of My Mind

sitting on a vinyl couch

waiting for the day to end

waiting for supper @ 4:00

making My twenty-fifth cup of tea

but in My Reality

I am BACK — on MY COUCH

tomato-coloured

with My Big Black Panther

at My Feet

& potato salad

in the fridge

Thought For A Full Moon

The Tomato-coloured Couch 9:22pm

There is Divine Logic

in All that happens

& It wouldn’t happen

otherwise

MY BROTHER’S BIRTHDAY

The Hawk Deck 8:20am

At Night I go to sleep

with the sweep of Cape Light

turned to My Bed

in the morning I wake

to step out on My Deck

immersed in the dew

with the waves

at My Head

EVENING DEER

The Hawk Outpost 6:49pm

The Scraggly Apple

is illuminated

with the eastern clouds

a rare mauve pink

The moon is up

My Fuchsia Painting is finished

& My Husband has said

I can hang It over

The Tomato-coloured Couch

HERE ON THE HAWK

The Hawk Queen Bed 9:07am

In The Depths of Depression

sunk inside a psychiatric unit

I would wait through each day

until I could ready My Self for bed

take My “Meds” at 9:00

put on My Pyjamas

& try to sleep

only to have to face the morning

& the same old Hellish repeat

–

Here On The Hawk

I Put On My Pyjamas

Relaxed

& Go To Bed With My Husband

& Rise Happy

To Check On My Painting

& Drink Our Morning Coffee

NIGHT TIME

The Hawk Utility Room 7:56pm

I stood above

My Mother’s Killer

dying on the basement floor

I thought of all

I’ve done to fill Her

and now can sleep

forever more

I Got My Canvas Today

The Tomato-coloured Couch 6:19pm

My Mother’s Brain Tumour

is dying

on the basement floor

is soon to be

enveloped by

perhaps a silver heart

but

the “roots”

will

survive