Joanna Gilman Hyde

"Good Morning, World!"

Tag: childhood

March 30, 2013

LITERARY MOTHER

The Tomato-coloured Couch 7:35pm

I caught an internal breath

after hanging The Preserved Newspaper Clipping

from The New York Times Book Review

dated June 4,1978 —

“Be A Literary Critic! Earn Big Bucks!”

hung first by Scotch Tape

in My Mother’s Valley Cottage Study

now hung, framed, in My Hawk Kitchen —

Did My Heart Really Skip

as I thought of My Literary Mother

Who, when I was eleven,

redacted Nova Scotia’s License Plate Slogan

“Canada’s Ocean Play Ground”

with black electricians tape?

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March 29, 2013

ROBERT WILBER

Hunter’s Library on The Hawk 5:47pm

Today is an ordinary day

Good Friday

& My Mother’s Pain seeps

through Me

how trite to say

It was The Pain of a Love Affair

— in Her Mind It was Her Muse —

& It was broken

by a small man

of large musical talent

–

Her Pain operates generationally

through Me

now that I am unhinged

from Her

I remain

entranced by

an iridescent disc

yelling at Me

DVD – RW x2

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March 24, 2013

BIRTH PLACE OF ELIZA

The Hawk Corner Room 4:33pm

My Daughter, You Are Spectacular

the way I dreamt You up

to be capable of anything

with the nerve & the looks

to go with Your Infinite Abilities

You Can Do Anything

as I imagined when I saw You

in April of 1993

when I wanted A Baby Girl

A Beautiful Daughter —

not even as a compliment to My Son —

A Daughter to stand on Her Own

ready to Wow The World

now at eighteen

with Your tears of disproportion

about Your Idealized Body

Your Perfectly White Smile

and All Your Talents —

shall I list A Few?

After All, I Am Your Mother

& I Will Tell The World:

She Can Sing, Write, Act

Ride A Horse, Sail (Racing)

Bake, Cook, Organize

Play The Piano, Guitar, Saxophone —

She Can Make Money

& Raise It —

She Can Travel Solo

& Paint —

I Am Her Mother

I Made Her

And I Will Not Apologise

for Any of Eliza

 

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March 22, 2013

DEPARTURE

The Hawk Queen Bed 8:00am

When I left My Children’s Father

fourteen years ago in June

I left My Clothes in Atlantic

I left The Pets

I left My Share of The Atlantic House

I left money in a joint bank account

I left two enormous pieces of furniture

The Secretary & High Boy inherited from The Woman I was named after —

I left Them in The Divorce Papers for Peak & Eliza

I had to leave My Kids

because I couldn’t take care of Them

4 Comments
March 19, 2013

CANADA

The Tomato-coloured Couch 7:15pm

America is famous for

Its Movie Stars

Its Giant Meals

Its Wide Open Pages

& It’s Famous For Me

though I have displaced My Self

To An Even Grander Space —

I Am In The New Frontier

of Canada

where endless gallons of water

are pure

where storms melt quickly

where trees get re-forested

& My Children Make Their Lives

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March 15, 2013

FOR THE JACKIES IN MY LIFE

The Hawk Kitchen 3:15pm

Today I Made Cookies

— it doesn’t matter what kind —

— it doesn’t matter I had to pound

the brown sugar into submission —

— it doesn’t matter They came out with arms & legs —

I Made Cookies

For The First Time

Since Making Hermit Cookies With My Mother

On McNutt Island

over 25 years ago

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March 11, 2013

POEM FOR MARCH 27th

The Hawk Queen Bed 11:50am

On a Grey Day in March

I write The Poem for The 27th

The Day My Two Greatest Losses

befell Me by Fate:

The First was My True Companion —

My Mother made certain of that —

The Second was A Beginning —

The Beginning of A Child

I would never know

as I knew My Mother

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March 9, 2013

CAUGHT

The Tomato-coloured Couch 9:13pm

He stole That Moment, Bastard

My Daughter was in Her Second Summer

when She waved Good-bye

to a Friend I’ll never see again —

held in Her Father’s Arms

My Little Eliza

mouthed the words

uttering Them distinctly —

They were Two Words

I tried not to hear —

He bastardized that moment

in Her very early speech

as He peeled off

My Darling’s “See Ya!”

& caught Them in His too quick

paws

Hand Over Those Words!

Let Me Use Them

as freely as You Do!

I want My Freedom Back

I’ll never get Eliza’s Moment

but I can try to have My Own

without Your constant reminder

even in a petty catch phrase

which seems to have gained in popularity

since I first heard You sing it out

when you were My Doctor

twenty-five years ago

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March 8, 2013

MY FIRST ART TEACHERS

The Hawk Family Room 7:00pm

My Elementary Art Teacher

Miss Fabian

was little & wore tight sweaters

Her Hair was Black

She wore Black Pants

& told Me Artists usually stand

to do Their work

I don’t remember My Intermediate Teacher

but I made a giant bobby pin

& won an art certificate

at the end of Sixth Grade

My High School Art Teachers

were Miss Cotterall, little & blond

Who taught Me the basics

of Jewellery Making —

Miss Hues —

She was dark-skinned

& I painted a water-colour portrait

of Her in a patch-work skirt —

Mr McDowell

was the Track Coach

Who later told Me He was proud

to have contributed in some small way

to My Success

Self Organizing Galaxy

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March 6, 2013

CRYSTALLIZED

The Hawk Corner Room 4:00pm

My Childhood Easter Egg

with Its Cellophane Window

Its Interior Hills of Sugar & Paper Bunnies

has opened out in My Adult View

through My Eastern Picture Window

to encompass Our Frosty Shoreline

7 Little Houses

& a School Bus Threading

Its way through Roadside Scrub Spruce

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