In My Tidy House
The Word of God
lies stuck against the back
of My Broom Closet —
It, The Word, is in poster form
tucked away
for only Those Who
dare to clean
or to hang up an extra coat —
for My Closet
holds a rod
—- Eye have re-created The Holy Trinity:
God The Mother, Daughter and The Holy Ghost
How Do You Get To Be Anything
Without Being A Wanna-be?
NOTE: Eye am already
everything I have ever
wanted to Be —
except a helicopter pilot —
not YET
In My Favourite Restaurant
Eye overheard The Waiter
Talking to The Cook:
“How can You have time
for God and Your Wife?”
Eye called out from My Booth:
“What if God and Your Wife
are One and The Same?”
Eye can have My Church
here, hear upon The Beach
I can walk, wake with The Birds
in the social structure of solitude
in the company of Life
Eye can shine with The New Sun
The Human Mind can
and does believe anything:
Believe what you want
I
He used to say:
“I love Your Toes –”
and didn’t know why
so nobody knows
II
He once wrote:
“I love You to distraction –”
It came at a time
when I was a fraction
of My Former Self
at His Behest
when We were installed
as His Daughter’s Guests
III
Her voice rang clear
the morning We left:
“You don’t give a fuck
about your grandchildren — ”
and so goes My Quest
for compensation regarding My Past
twenty years of seclusion by Him —
He Who assured Me
He never would fail
to deliver support
if I fell off The Rail
which I did once or twice
(but not into His Arms)
though I stayed as His Wife
and buttered His Charms
IV
It’s over now —
I’m cutting My Loss
of One Child’s Silence
I am willing to toss
to remain in My Stead
I ask to be free
of The Bonds of This Marriage
strung on The Cross
I sat and sat
to catch The Rise
fulfilling My Daily View
Eye turned to let a cat
inside
and beheld
My Sun-struck Pew
I have been embraced
by a high white Baptist Church
and let go
like a helium balloon
by the ties
of my mother’s death
Eye have The New Christ
pinned to M(eye) wall
She lays with Her Backside
bare to us all —
She fucks our Netflicks
to the content of Her Heart —
She dangles Her Crotch
& lets out a fart
Joanna Gilman Hyde 