The Tomato-coloured Couch 2:15pm
I do not wonder at My Father’s Death —
how It was for Him
as I wonder at My Mother’s
My Father may have been asleep —
He died in the night
as far as I know
but My Mother was wide, wide
awake
& blazed Her Eyes open
except for one torturous blink
which opened back up
in Her Last Guttural Heave
The Hawk Kitchen 7:50pm
I have drunk My First Beverage
W–A–T–E–R
from My Chalice Divine
standing before My Dramatic Sky
of heavy mauve cloud
& Illuminated Gull
reaching around
to the sea-view
The Hawk Living Room 6:30pm
note: refer back to poem titled “Candle Holder”
I bought My Chalice today
in Yarmouth
It is a Candle Holder
It is frosted
It says in black “Life
is not measured by
the number of breaths we take,
but by the moments
which take our breath away.”
I bought It at Wall * Mart
I could drink Scotch out of It
The Hawk Living Room 1:45pm
I am sitting in a beam of sun
in a velvet chair
anything can happen here
in My Mind
any thought can be unleashed
with or without choice:
How do I know
I am deliberately
recalling
the total lack
of sun
in The Yarmouth Psychiatric Unit?
The Tomato-coloured Couch 8:00pm
My Mother told Me I couldn’t carry a tune
so She put Me in a crinkly black tutu
& expected Me to dance
I was the clumsy conundrum
My Teachers couldn’t figure out
I was Cinderella in French
& Teacher’s Pet in Junior High Science
I didn’t like High School
with One Peculiar Friend
Who wanted to get high
at lunch
My Mother put Me into Her College —
a small liberal arts school in up state New York
where I took all the art I could get
& transferred into Cooper Union in New York City
After graduating I decided
to paint the most visible roof in the world:
#5 World Trade Center
& was given permission by The Port Authority of NY & NJ
In 1984 I signed My Name
to the ten-thousand square-foot canvas
in three-foot high letters
I wore a crinkly black skirt
filmed by German Television
& three decades later
is on You Tube
Barrington Passage, NS 2:22pm
I’m sitting in a Doctor’s Office
One of The Safest Places
in The World
or is It?
Here I am given a little green pill
to ward off anxiety
about The World at Large
I have had My Talk
& My Walk
but continue to feel
a shadow
of uneasiness
The Hawk West Desk Window 10:00pm
I believe I will live
to tell the story of My Death
& not the murky recitation
of past relatives
& misty shores
I will live to tell
of nightly dreams
coalescing
into daily performance
the history of which
enshrouded
by My Veil
of Truth
will come to My Listeners
as no surprise
Joanna Gilman Hyde 