The Tomato-coloured Couch 8:22pm
I am a little girl
hair in braids
clutching My Tabby Cat
listening to My Mother
–
I am a self-sufficient teenager
riding My Bike
on My Paper Route
making My Teachers happy
wanting to be a helicopter pilot
an artist on the side
–
I am a young mother
homesteading with a handsome family man
approved of by My Mother
having Our Babies*
before & soon after Her Death
–
I am an “older” woman now
reviewing two marriages
children grown
houses changed with assorted cats
& somehow I am happy
not too far from My Own Mind
*one who was aborted on March 27, 1997
The Tomato-coloured Couch 4:00pm
Hunter had A Ginger Calico
disappear for 13 days
until today when She trotted
2lbs lighter, mewing
onto The Deck
into My Arms
from whence I pronounced A Miracle
& after eating
& revisiting Her Surroundings
The Prodigal Daughter went to sleep
in Her Cami Condo
The Hawk West Desk Window 4:11pm
I have A Voodoo Pain
at the inside of My Left Upper Arm
It’s telling Me to Right Write
telling Me to leave My Tea
telling Me to describe The Pain:
“It’s Itchy, Man!”
pulsating
not now, not now, not now
is It gonna happen again?
I do want My Tea
I’m gonna go get It —
(came back)
NOW — The Pain came again!
but what am I supposed to Right
— how silly — to be Writing
about Righting
ooh — again!
It’s My Left Upper Arm, Near My Elbow
It’s a panging itch
lasts about a second —
–
If I could Write anything
what would I Write Right Now?
ooh — It came
what would I Write without losing My Audience?
Only That Which I Am Capable Of Knowing:
My Self
I Write about My Self All The Time
I Love My Self
but I see My Self as only Half —
–
I went to the bathroom
& The Pain continued
I think It’s telling Me
to keep Writing:
I have another Half
in The Form of A Little Man —
I’m gonna make another Cup Of Tea
–
I’m back
My Rings were on the sink
I put Them on
I Love My Rings
They’re Mine
They have no Halves
I let in My Black Cat
Astro Jasper Cosmo
He’s All Mine
though My Husband Loves Him Too
My Tea is steeping
I haven’t felt another Voodoo Pain
I’ll go check My Tea
Look at all the “I’s”
going Write down this page!
The Hawk Portico 4:50pm
I seem to be developing a pattern
of going back to sleep
after Hunter leaves for work
possibly to make up for the nocturnal interruptions
of letting Astro out
back in
of waking well before the alarm
waking & waiting
to rise & make the coffee
or take out the trash
as happened today
& today I did go back to sleep
dreamed
& so resurrected the remainder
of the day
even painted a small pine table Peter built
long ago & left unclaimed
to use now in the new library
for Hunter’s Stereo
The Hawk Queen Bed 2:22pm
In Bed in lavish purple
bedding & robe & calico cat
window open to the spring
I sit This Afternoon
with My Worn Out Husband
on the remnants
of a stomach bug, He & I
reading financial reports
off His Nexus Tablet
& planning how He can keep
working, rowing
& feeding the cats
The Hawk Kitchen 2:45pm
My Morning Ritual is over
I’m not sorry — We’re trying to save the birds
in the backyard — a compost section
in a hedge may have been the culprit
— I would throw My Daily Banana Peel
there as I munched in contemplation
standing in My Bathrobe
or Pyjamas
until My Astute Daughter
pointed out that birds go after My Leavings
& Our More Limber Cat(s?) go after Them
COULD I PUT MY PEEL
IN THE NEW COMPOST BUCKET UNDER THE SINK
AND STILL TAKE MY BANANA OUTSIDE?
The Tomato-coloured Couch 4:57pm
I’ve been mismatched All My Life
yet all these cock-eyed relationships
have lead to The Castle I now occupy:
My Beautiful Home By The Sea
housing six cats, All My Artwork
& thirty pounds of diaries
The Hawk Corner Room 5:12pm
I have given up
on Black & Purple
— That Lethal Combination —
even when My Black Cat sits
beside a pair of Purple
UGG Boots by The Kitchen Door
I think of My Art School Satin Lips
& Black Fuzzy Bed
of Purple Phalli
I am no longer interested
in The Symbolism of The Night
of hidden passions
under cover of Darkness
I am in The Sedate
Components
of The Spectrum
The Hawk West Desk Window 11:12am
The Only Remnants
of My Black Possessions
are This Journal, My Pen
My Black Cat Astro
& One Pair of Jet Bead Earrings
Given To Me
By My Mother
Joanna Gilman Hyde 