Joanna Gilman Hyde

"Good Morning, World!"

Tag: 9/11

SELF-CONTAINMENT

The Tomato-coloured Couch 7:22pm

I am self-contained

I do not need another

half

a partner of religion

of life

I can eat My Ice Cream

alone

on My Tomato-coloured Couch

and not worry

about

a God-damn

Thing

HOW I STAY FIT

The Tomato-coloured Couch 2:11pm

Nearly every morning

I gear up for My 4,000 Metre Row

on My Concept 2 Rowing Machine

with computerized clock:

My Columbia Shell Shorts

Sportex Sports Bra

Joe Fresh Sleeveless Grey Under-shirt

Anklet Sox from Eliza

& Old Nike Sneakers

make Me —

into The Basement I go

to put Classic Vocal Trance

on The Hulk (My Husband’s biggest computer)

& warm up with four rounds each

of personal exercises

I wipe down the C2 bar

on-which the seat slides

& strap My Self into the foot rests

I pull the handles

& focus My Vision on the in-out motion

of the chain

& watch The Clock

like a Hawk

for 11 Minutes & 22 Seconds

— take a clocked break upstairs —

— drink from My LIFE Glass —

& go back down to hit

22:22

 

COSMOS

The Tomato-coloured Couch 7:22pm

I am sitting, aligned

with The Sun, a candle

& My LIFE Glass, The Earth

before Me, ahead of My Right Knee

orbiting My Oval Glass Coffee Table

I am in the outer reaches

of The Solar System

My Couch is an asteroid belt

& My Room, My Living Room

is The Universe

contained

in This

My

Mind

9/11

The Hawk West Desk Window 4:11pm

ICONIC POWER:

WESTERN FEMININE APPEAL

COLLIDES WITH ISLAM

PLEDGE OF ALLEGIANCE

The Hawk Kitchen 5:00pm

I Pledge Allegiance

To One Fat Cloud

Watched Out My Kitchen Window

Until It Shrinks From A Golden Swath

Into A Fluff Of Grey

and I lose it

PROMPT

The Hawk Window Seat 3:55pm

Silver-edged clouds sway

parting light to drowsy nap:

“Get Up, Make Some Tea!”

DARK HAWK

The Tomato-coloured Couch 2:22pm

saw Dark Hawk in flight

against My Turbulent Sky:

Survival Power

FOR JACQUELINE RACE-RETFALVI

The Hawk Queen Bed 1:22pm

Trying to take a nap

with one Ativan

& My Doctor/Husband beside Me

I am in My Underwear

with snow squalls out Our window

— I don’t have My Glasses on —

everything’s all a blurb

THIRTY YEAR END

The Hawk West Desk Window 10:11pm

This First New Year’s Eve

for My “of age” Daughter

saw Her donning black stockings

in the back of My Ford Fusion

& tripping out to Her Fete (circumflex)

in Italian pressed leather heels

from Her Mother’s 1984

Rooftop Painting Party

GUT REACTION

The Tomato-coloured Couch 7:05pm

My Voice is My Calling

pulling Me forward

into What, at What

I’m not sure

but I am feeling

a Gut Reaction

to The State Of The World:

My Innards Are Awkward

& telling Me so