Joanna Gilman Hyde

The Tomato-coloured Couch 1:11pm

I live with A Demon

of My Own Creation

caged above Me

in My Living Room

He is black & dirty

with giant bird shit

dripping off the upper right corner

of His Chicken Wire Cage

first laid across Him

on the 4th Floor

of Cooper Union’s Foundation Building

where He came to Life

never to speak — only to glare

with His Brilliant Eyes

down upon His Audience —

Yet Today He Speaks!

Through Me as I speak out

for The Creature of My Fierce Fear —

My Fear of being locked in

or up

or out

as I have been locked inside

psychiatric wards

for years on end

I am OUT NOW

& I can speak My Mind

no matter how It comes out

I AM BLACK JESUS — but

not because I am dressed in black

I AM BLACK JESUS — because

I can speak

for My Desperate Crow — d