Joanna Gilman Hyde

"Good Morning, World!"

Tag: childhood

June 10, 2013

SYNOPSIS

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

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June 7, 2013

FOR MY DEAR BERNARD

The Tomato-coloured Couch 4:30pm

We have come back into

each other’s lives

thanks primarily to the Internet

and here We are — corresponding

I was on a cloud of happiness

to be reunited with You

Who held such a place

in My Very Young Childhood

Now You Have Asked The Fateful Question:

“Joanna, how do you spend Your Days?”

My Answer:

Like You Bernard, waiting for the production of Your Musical —

I am waiting for My World Trade Center Rooftop Painting

Self Organizing Galaxy

to blow the roof off 911

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June 4, 2013

BONUM NON EST IN DEO:

On the Indistinction of the One and the

Exclusion of the Good in Meister Eckhart

“I Am The Child —

Big Black Book Upon My Lap

A Smattering Of The Universe

Bespotting This Page

Of Lights

From My Diamond Rings”

The Tomato-coloured Couch 4:47pm

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June 1, 2013

in perpetuum

The Tomato-coloured Couch 5:40pm

Oh that spinning game

where the grown-up grabs

the child’s wrists

& swings him/her around

& around

am I in this game

in the path of Earth & Moon

& that Adult —

Who is He?

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May 24, 2013

FORBEARANCE

The Hawk Queen Bed 9:11pm

I hear The Peepers through My Left

Surf out to My Right

My Left Hand rests on My Husband’s Thigh

My Pills I’ve taken for The Night

The Day is closing, nondescript

though visited Mother-in-law (ex)

to make sure Eliza’s Prom Dress zipped

(It did)

made home-made pizza —

was a hit

in bed now, early

quit

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May 21, 2013

EAST & WEST

The Hawk Kitchen 8:08pm

What does The Sky look like

to Juvenile Joanna

sucking Her Right Thumb

but NOT twiddling Her Hair

(It was in braids)

This Sky out the East Kitchen Window

looks like oatmeal

–

From The West Desk Window

The Sky looks like striated years

representing decades

of living, & nearly dying

of having two babies

& losing the third

of having grown children

having no more mother, no father

a second loving husband

& a house from which

to watch The Clouds

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May 20, 2013

BRIDGE

The Hawk Basement 3:30pm

I have two poems

swirling around in My Head:

The First represents The Shadow of a trinket

bauble, gem, charm, jewel

cast upon My Basement Wall

to the immediate right

of My Rowing Machine’s Arm

It is The Configuration

of a diamond ring

tipped to the right

& out from underneath It

falls, clatters

a rain of darker pieces, shapes

of raw concrete

spilling to the floor

meeting the extension of The Shadow

cast by the elongated arm

–

The Second is of My Mother & My Daughter:

While I was driving to pick up My Daughter

The Shadow of My Mother took over, briefly

& the car in front of Me

held My Daughter’s initials

& I, as Mother & Daughter

was The Bridge

I am The Bridge

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May 16, 2013

AT EIGHT

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

Self Organizing Galaxy

is on You Tube

 

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May 13, 2013

FORETOLD

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

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May 12, 2013

HAPPY MOTHER’S DAY

The Hawk Family Room 7:30pm

“You can write poetry out of anything”

I glibly stated to a friend

who had taken Me out for a late birthday lunch —

Well Watch This — You Can’t–

take watching digital rain on Family Room window screens

& link it, somehow,

to My Hallmark Daughter

not giving Me a birthday card

then surprising Me with one

for Mother’s Day

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