The Tomato-coloured Couch 5:15am
Both My Parents
have not died
for Me
Oh, They’re gone al-right
I just don’t feel Their Absence
It’s as if They never existed
except as Minds
in My Mind
before Me
The Tomato-coloured Couch 7:15pm
When My First Husband told Me
He Loved Me
I wore a floral summer dress
to receive My Canadian Citizenship
He was renting a room
outside of Halifax
for a movie job
— He was a Master Carpenter —
I stayed the night with Him
— brought The Children —
in the sparse house of a Scientologist
— the only books were Scientology —
in the dark, quietly
with Eliza in Her portable crib
& Peak on a spare bed
I heard “I Love You”
in My Left Ear
The Hawk Kitchen 12:50pm
I was That Nice Young Woman
balancing babies on My Left Hip
splitting firewood for The Atlantic Stove
hair shoulder length
smiling for photographs
coping with My Mother’s Illness
but not Her Death
Illuminated by The Shower of Lights
I descended into Depression
spanning eight years
pulled out by The Arms
of My Doctor
Who became My Second Husband
–
In This 22nd Year My Hair is short
children grown
I wear black
and block My Heart
in A Vault of Silver
The Hawk Corner Room 12:15pm
I Stand At Attention
with The Ocean View before Me
with The Picture of My Mother’s Face
wearing only Her Orange Lipstick —
Her Heavy-lidded Eyes
Green and Happy —
I Am Here because of Her
and My Arrival has taken
Eons
The Hawk Kitchen 3:25pm
I have written My Self
into a corner
I have consumed a whole bowl
of Pop Corn
& taken My Ball, My Cap Gun
& My Dolly
home
I am The Petulant Child
Who’s eaten all Her Cookies & Milk
and left without thanking
The Mommy
Joanna Gilman Hyde 