Joanna Gilman Hyde

October 26th, 2011 The Hawk     

AKIMBO

 I ain’t no HO’ prostitute
fo’ G-O-D
Don’ matta what Jimbo say —
I ain’t no BEEATCH HO’
legs out wide
— Tard Hands is wide —
I gots pronounced personality
—like Dr. Banjo say —
I play wid My Self
all da way —
Dat Song on My Dope Ride
got Me Doin’ 185:
“Satisfy Da Need In Mee –”
“Satisfy Da Need In Mee –”
ain’t gonna Do It
wid No Mo’ Fo’ God
ain’t gonna Do It
fo’ no Mutha Fucka
P-I-M-P

                                                                  Joanna Hyde

 That “O” Dress
Black Robe
styled from the 50’s
told Me I was powerful —
one of the most powerful women
on the planet —
if not THE most powerful —
My Anger, My Fury,
was justified —
In That Dress
I was The Black Jesus
ready to allow My Self
entrance
into a Mental Hospital
for The Sake of My Person (et al)
Beliefs

 I drank from a very large beaker
sweet Red Wine
called XOXOX
I crossed My Legs
and beat My Right Silver Slipper
into the evening air

 I wore gobs & gobs of silver
jewelry
— all that I owned —
but had the worth of one real estate transaction
under my belt
BOY WAS I MAD —
I shot off the centre
of My Tomato-coloured couch
& stomped around The House
heckling
cackling
&
swearing up
&
down

 I demanded to be taken out to…

tonight My Daughter

Made Me Up

using a combination

of Her Make Up

& Mine

I wore My Mother’s Amber Necklace

as My Daughter worked

My Face

She moved around Me

like a Sprite

laying out Her Blush, Powder & Pencils

allowing Me to choose

which Lipstick

as the Final Application

to The Body

Who Made Her

Up

Joanna Hyde

November 11^th 2011   The Hawk
7:13pm

“Is He Internal or External?”

“He is Both.”

“And when I hear a Song On The Radio – what is He then?”

“Then He is God.”

“But is not God within Me?”

“Yes, He is Internal & External – what You hear is the same.”

“What I hear comes through Me –”

“Yes, without You there would be No Song.”

“Without Me There Would Be No God?”

                                                     Joanna Hyde

November 12^th 2011   The Hawk

7:48pm

One day long long ago

in a land far far away,

a princess made a Bed

for Satan, out of Satin,

So Said She –It was rimmed

with feathers – white – a boa

and buried inside deep

a coal-black seed of smooth

round ball, sunk inside

deep the sheet – that seed

She sees for now is SHE.

                             Joanna Hyde

October 21st, 2011
The Hawk
7:37 pm

 Out of The Remains
of My Mother’s Attic
Out of The Remains
of My Last Half-a-Century
I have salvaged
The Fullness of My Feminine Form
My Ballerina Doll
bought for Me by My Grandmother
after I begged & begged
for a tubby mechanical blond
I watched over & over
in a television Christmas ad
twirling madly in a Little Girl’s Fantasy

 My Grandmother from Alabama took Me
into New York City
to pick any doll I wanted
when there stood only one Ballerina
on the shelves & shelves —
I took Her —
staring distant and blue eyed
with red haired curls elaborately styled
She was the most beautiful Doll
I had ever Touched
She was My Ornament Extraordinaire
never to be played with
never to be named

 She is still dressed like a Degas Ballerina
with Black Ribbon Around Her Neck
sparkles on Her Tutu
She stands stiff and…

This is coming to You
from a spiral bound page
in regular ballpoint.
My Silver Pen
is kept Upstairs.

 This is My Assignment:
I found My Voice Today —
it is not a regular voice.
It has demonstrated
and will demonstrate
My Capacity to Chant, to Move
to ruffle & unruffle its Hearers.
I can & do stand
as Precentor of The Billions
as Chanteuse of The New Age
This Age of Silver:
Swirling Strata of Our Development
here on Earth
where We have nothing left
to follow but Our Selves —
to know if We are ashamed

Joanna Hyde
November 25^th 2011

 
the poem was 
inspired by listening to the video of the UC DAVIS pepper spray and 
having you ASK for something.

Joanna

This is coming to You
through an acid-free page
from My Black-bound
Journal
written with My Birks
Silver Pen

 announcing The Arrival
of My Blond Bomb Shell
Daughter I Made Up
appearing at My Bathroom Door
with a favourite knitted scarf
over Her Head

 announcing to The Mirror
“I Am Dressed
Like A Muslim Woman.”

Joanna Hyde  November 30th, 2011

I almost had a Conversion Experience
today heading into our local grocery
flanked by two enormous wreaths
I felt protected, blessed even
to have the food here to buy

could I give up My Anti Christmas
stance —
maybe even for just This
Year —

Which Is Stronger:
My Abhorrence to the Lies
of “Christmas”
or
My Appreciation for How
I’ve made it
to This

Joanna Hyde
December 5^th 2011   The Hawk
11:46am