The Tomato-coloured Couch 4:00pm
I am The Girl Who’s
had Every Advantage
even when the heel broke
off My Glass Slipper
I arrived unscathed
from an orgy of Champagne
in the back of a Limousine —
too bad I don’t remember
The Home Stretch
The Hawk Deck 9:38am
The World Is Waiting
The Guns Have Been Silenced
I Will Come Forward
With A Primitive Call
To Hands, Arms Extended
— The Reconstruction —
Waiting In Our Laps
Our Greatest Power
October 11, 2013 The Hawk Queen Bed 10:50pm
I took off My Purple Sweater
& laid It in the laundry basket
nestled around My Big Black Cat Astro
I saw The Colour Purple
next to My Cat’s Blackness
& saw My Giant Satin Lips again
that Monument To Sex I sewed & stuffed
for a Cooper Union sculpture class —
body-length zippered pillows I presented
dressed in Black, I kicked off My High heels
butted out a cigarette
unzipped My Fierce Creation
& climbed in
sunk unseen down inside The Fuchsia Lips
zipped back up
The Tomato-coloured Couch 5:55pm
White Trucks are mechanical Angels of Mercy
I saw One driving out of the polling station today
after voting for My Liberal MLA
(Member of The Provincial Legislative Assembly)
Whom My Husband says is Pro-Life
The Tomato-coloured Couch 2:37pm
God is sitting above
a sky-black plate
eating Her bagel sandwich
dropping an array of crumbs
on the outcropping
of The Cosmos
The Hawk Deck 9:57am
Were I to lose My Eyesight
could I still see The Patches Of Colour
The Sparkly Lights
I’m free to see now
whenever I close My Eyes
or would I be immersed in Pitch Blackness
& what does Pitch Black really look like?
The Hawk Deck 11:10am
The Day On The Deck
Is So Still
I Can Hear The Echo
Of The Crow’s Call
Harsh, Yet Circular
Rising In A Crows’ Chorus
From The Scrub Spruce Nearby
Here Beside Me
Perhaps A Buzz Flies
The Tomato-coloured Couch 2:22pm
Once I wore black
for My Favourite Psychiatrist
Jesus Black — black velour sling pants
black push-up bra
briefly hidden by a golden tee
which said “Trust In The Lloyd”
My FP asked if I had made the slogan
I told Him, “No, it came from a movie”
and tore off The Tee
as I sat on an unforgiving mattress
on the floor
of The TQ Room — not a room — an unforgiving space
euphemistically named The Therapeutic Quiet Room
— My hair was longer then
blonder
I might have looked wild —
My Tall Psychiatrist
stood above Me
and looked at the ceiling
and said what I presume
was a prayer
I don’t even know
why He was in there
and I certainly do not know why I was
Note: related passage in The Script
The Hawk Corner Room 11:45am
Love which can be pulled back
is My Grandest Weapon
how It arms Me
in The Dark
as It has for almost half My Life
It levers Me into The Remainder
for I will keep this Love hidden
and use It only if I have to
like The Crow Bar under My Bed
Joanna Gilman Hyde 