I’m sitting on My Tomato-coloured Couch
eating a “croisant”–
Eliza gets mad at Me
for NOT pronouncing the “R”–
She’s off on a 7-hour drive
to Cape Breton
towing a trailer of sail boats
& She’s still 17–
leaving Her First Serious Boyfriend
for 5 days
steering the Escape steering wheel
with Her Left Knee
while She Texts Him
I placed My Bejewelled Left Arm
upon the cushion of My Sofa
The Left Hand of Which
became My Grandmother’s–
The Hand My Mother Saw
in a tree
The Night My Grandmother Died
dat De-Press-ion ain’t
gonna git Me agin
no matta how It come
lurkin’ around
–
It ain’t gonna stop Me
from doin’ de dishes
–
eatin’ Ma suppa
–
It ain’t gonna stop Me
from drivin’ wid Ma Baby Girl
out to La Creamy
Treat
in de settin’ sun
Joanna Gilman Hyde 