The Tomato-coloured Couch 5:04pm
Why don’t I just think
about God the way
Everybody Else does?
How much simpler would My Life be —
My Writing?
Would I quit bashing My Head
against the proverbial brick wall —
Would I join the rest of Humanity
if I believed in creation —
How can I believe in creation when I believe
We’ve never NOT existed
& that WE are responsible
for Our Own Realities?
The Tomato-coloured Couch 8:30pm
It’s been a Winter
of dying dogs & Dads
& a dear old Mother-in-law
settled into Her Husband’s
room of departure
in a tiny hospital
with, I’m guessing
the same fiery sun
going down in front
prompting Me to curtsey
March 31st, 2014 Valley Regional Hospital, NS 5:32pm
Just let Me set here awhile
& let it all soak in —
let Me look at the mesh of the curtain
& remember The Flashes —
let Me hear My Mother-in-law breathing
under a heated blanket
& I will set & tell You
The Story with
no
end
The Hawk Queen Bed March 21st 11:50pm
Please allow Me to explain
everything
in Galactic Terms —
if We are integrating with Aliens
it is mutually beneficial —
Yes, The Egyptians were convinced
of an afterlife
as I am convinced of God —
if the existence of Aliens
disputes the existence of God
I say No — We can and do
have both
The Tomato-coloured Recliner 4:30pm
Dear Bill N Lacy:
–
You know why I handed you all those pathetic love letters while I was a student at Cooper Union and you were President? I was youthfully in lust with you, no matter what the letters said, and you were correct never to have replied.
–
After I graduated, I gave you hand-knitted socks (not knitted by me) with a note for cold feet, and months later you said, “I still have those socks –”
–
I said, “Now you don’t need them –”
–
“Why?” you suddenly asked, and I sang out, “Because Now It’s Spring!”
–
(I was about to ask my children’s father to marry me.)
–
Two husbands later I am keeping up my record — this time for over twenty years — and the object of my attentions is a small leprechaun from Scotland with whom (I’ve told myself) I would travel to outer space.
–
I hope this letter finds you well.
–
Yours truly,
–
Joanna
The Tomato-coloured Couch 9:45pm
I see You at the doors
to Sobey’s with Your Wife
I’m with My Husband —
I dodge across The Parking Lot
to The Cart Corral
with Its Yellow Sign:
In The Event Of An Emergency
Gather Here
I sit cross-legged on the pavement
below The Sign —
Do You Come Over To Me?
Does My Husband —
Or Does He Converse With Your Wife?
When & With Whom
Do I Lift My Arms
Up & Out To The Sides
As I Did In Your Presence On October 22, 1993
To Voice, Not For The First Time
I Am In A Spiritual Emergency?
Joanna Gilman Hyde 