The Tomato-coloured Couch 7:35pm
In One of My Countless Psychiatric Interviews
I was Once Asked The Question:
“What does the saying
Don’t Cry Over Spilled Milk
mean?”
I rose from My Chair
to find My Self Exclaiming
“Accidents Are A Necessity”
“Accidents Are A Necessity”
“Accidents Are A Necessity”
until The Psychiatrist
Doctor Appavoo
(I called Him Doctor Apple Voodoo)
had to shut Me up
The Hawk West Desk Window 12:13pm
I saw An Angel Once
— while My Mother lay dying —
She Flew from Left to Right
amidst The Bows of A Lofty Pine
I told My Mother Where To Look
for Belly, Arms, Sleeves
She turned Her Head, My Mother did
so She Never Leaves
The Hawk Queen Bed 10:34pm
My Master Plan is to be The Star
Super like no other
so that all I touch will turn to Silver
& all I own to Gold
I will dress My Self as I do now
with careful thought & pride
& live upon My Cans of Soup
My Flame Flung Far & Wide
The Tomato-coloured Couch 7:17pm
I can write whatever I want
a privilege not held in all countries
there, where Women are struggling
while I sit in My Sea-side Outpost
wanting to give, will, Them The Power
I have
to fight the wars Their Men
have made
to fight the hunger of Their
babes
what can I do
but write
My Freedom
& hope It spreads?
The Hawk West Desk Window 10:25am
I have turned toward The East
with The Sun Behind
and The Moon Ahead
toward The Women Who Wear
Gold On Their Wrists
Silver In Their Hair
In Societies Where They Are Allowed
to put Personal Wealth
on display
in order to Hold It
The Hawk Basement approx. 10:00am
One Half Of Me Is Gold
— The Other Silver —
I Am The Bionic Woman
Watch Me Turn
Watch Me Switch
Can You Guess
Which Is Witch?
The Hawk West Desk Window 8:35am
Silver makes All The Difference —
It holds Reflected Light — You Can See
Your Self in Its gleaming surface
like The Moon
unrubbed It is neglected
stood upon It is sacred
–
Gold holds no such properties —
merely an internal glow
raging like The Sun
coveted by Men
–
We Are In The Silver Era
The Hawk Kitchen 10:22am
There is a general assumption that men are intelligent
unless otherwise stated
whereas, with women, if a woman’s intelligence shows
She is deemed “an intelligent woman.”
The Tomato-coloured Couch 4:45pm
“Hey Jimbo — what colour
is My Underwear?”
“I have no idea –”
“Red, Jim — RED —
I’m Pro Life –”
“That’s good –”
“I have 2,311 views on Self Organizing Galaxy
— where I was white in the beginning
& black at the end –”
“What do You want Me to do?”
“There’s nothing You CAN do, Jim —
I’m angry
& American“
The Hawk Kitchen 9:37am
I floated down The Hudson River
on a cloud of pink
baby pink
but I had eyes
& could see My Parents
incestuous playmates
together at The Waterfalls
of Snedens Landing
I impregnated My Mother
& She tried to gallop on a horse
to get rid of Me
but since I stayed
She wanted Me
& stuck to Me like horse glue
The first year of human-hood
was spent in Africa
for My Father to teach Africans
how to drive tractors
& for My Mother to give dinner parties to African Dignataries
where Dr Schweitzer held Me
on His Lap
& looked at My Toes
As soon as My Mother & I came home by freighter
Howard was born
& He became My New Shadow
The Hawk Deck 10:37am
Our Mother raised us single-handedly
while Our Father, back from Africa & Divorced
toiled fruitlessly on a dairy farm
Howard & I grew into
robust teenagers
— He a musician
— I an artist
laden down
by My Mother’s Failed Love Affair
with a famous Jazz Player
Fuck This Shit —
I’m not laden down by anything:
Mother’s Old Lost Love
Her Early Death By Malignant Brain Tumour
My Shower of Unintelligible Light
on March 31st, 1993
Brother’s Dying on a Jail-house Floor
or Years of Depression
with My Daughter’s Early Childhood Memories
of Her Mother Lying In Bed
or Hospitalized for Weeks On End
That Daughter has just finished
washing Her Boyfriend’s
Black Dodge Ram 1500
& It’s Drying
in Perfect
Sun
Joanna Gilman Hyde 