The Tomato-coloured Couch 8:10pm
My Mother sat in Her brown & gold
champagne bubble evening dress
empire-waisted
listening to Her clarinet-playing married Lover
in The World’s Greatest Jazz Band —
I stayed baby-sat
until
Her Bubble Burst
upon My nine-year-old shoulders
The Christmas I begged
for a pair of green & red
Love Birds
The Hawk Deck 11:48am
My Brother had a Magic Pendant —
have I written of It before?
He asked It Yes or No
Questions
& told His Fortune
but We don’t have It now —
It was Our Mother’s —
heavy hand-wrought Silver
with A Bird on one side
Rose on the other
The Tomato-coloured Couch 7:22pm
When I was five years old
My Mother took Me into New York City
to see The Musical Annie Get Your Gun
The Only Part I remember
was The Ballroom Scene
with actors holding plates of food
& I asked My Mother
“Is That Real Food?”
The Tomato-coloured Couch 4:45pm
I could paint on the floor
on raw canvas
on the concrete floor of Hunter’s soon-to-be Library
& sell My Paintings
for $10,000 each
–
6:42pm
I’ve taken to making bread
kneading the dough with My Left Hand
holding the bowl with My Right
against a cushioned wrought-iron Ottoman
positioned between My Knees
like an Alewife
The Tomato-coloured Couch 6:33pm
How not to change lives & still sleep
in 3 easy steps:
1) Buy 22 Bars of Silver & lock Them in The Bank
2) Don’t buy a funny-shaped House on The Hawk
to rent to Kristine Zoodedoo
or Hunter’s Secretary
Who said She would move to The Hawk
like a tornado
3a) Don’t ask Your Daughter repeatedly
for Her Opinion on kitchen design features
3b) Eat left-over macaroni
& drink plenty of water out of the tap
of Your Tawdry Fridge
The Hawk Dining Room 2:22pm
In My Sleep This Morning
One Line came to Me
but I was too tired
to write It down:
“My Love Is As Deep As An Unsung Well”
Here It Is Penned
At This Time
while I spoon My Christmas Turkey Soup
out of a big black cup
The Hawk Kitchen 7:45pm
Tonight when I went out in The Dark
to scrape a dinner plate for The Crows
I heard the distinct honking of geese
somewhere below the constellation of Orion
— the only constellation I recognize
beside The Big Dipper —
Oh, I didn’t tell You —
a few days ago — no, December 22nd —
I met one of the nurses from The Psych Unit
in the bakery section of MY Sobey’s
— it was One Who doled out bedtime pills —
She could barely say hello
The Hawk Queen Bed 8:00am
I Am Your Black Jesus
I Am The Silver Christ
flashing hot with menopause
sleep-deprived from letting Astro out @ 5:00
waking Eliza for school @ 6:30
making coffee for My Husband @ 7:00
Joanna Gilman Hyde 