The Tomato-coloured Couch 10:22pm
I wore a necklace of shells
My Father sent from Africa
when I was four
She — My Daughter — wore
Her Dress Of Silver — size 2
shaped like a mermaid
& visited Her Other Grandfather
in The Hospital —
He said
“You Look Like A Fish”
Eliza’s Corner Room 2:34pm
I saw The Meaning Of Life
open out like The Brown Garment Bag
containing Eliza’s Silver Prom Dress
opening from Its Centre
to reveal The Paradoxical Joke
edged in Raspberry & Gold:
God’s Super Joke —
The Reason For Schizophrenia
The Tomato-coloured Couch 5:30pm
I married Him under apple boughs
on The Island of My Mother
and when She died
six years later
I would love another
–
I went to see Our Marital House
to see Eliza there
to deliver dishcloths
She was wanting
to see how She had cared
enough to put a sprig of apple
in a bottle neck deep and red
It glowed upon a kitchen sill
I have nothing left to dread
no more hurting husbands
no more dying pets
I am free now
in My Life
even to forget
The Tomato-coloured Couch 12:15pm
This Morning My Daughter reported waking
to the song of multitudinous bird-life
the dehumidifier tray was full
but She had no hot water
in The Atlantic House —
My First Marital Home
with Eliza’s Father
Who picked the colours
& built an addition
complete with screened-in porch
off Our New Bedroom
I sat out there in the shelter of the screens
in My Post-Mother’s-Death Depression
& wondered, along with everyone else,
why I was not happy
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
The Hawk Queen Bed 3:00pm
I’m still in bed, in My Pyjamas
& it’s three o’clock in the afternoon
This condition is ostensibly due to sleep deprivation
from last night when I stayed up too late
fooling around with My joannagilmanhyde web address —
It didn’t get corrected until this morning
with My Husband’s help before work
but I wasn’t able to catch up on the sleep
despite taking an Ativan —
as You may have gathered
My Beauty Sleep relies entirely on pills
& regular routine —
any break in the pattern
& I’m shot for the day
–
personal note: My Daughter Eliza just phoned
that She’s got a summer job at Shelburne’s Osprey Arts Center
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
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
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
The Hawk Living Room 1:30pm
Is It Too Trite
to write about My Old Bike
getting thrown out in the trash
along with My Cross Country Skis
Eliza doesn’t want —
My Ex Husband called this morning
promting the question
does anybody still want
My Teal 3-Speed I got for My Thirteenth Birthday?
Eliza said “no” & I said
“Are You putting it out by the road
for somebody to take?”
Joanna Gilman Hyde 