THE SIGN
The Tomato-coloured Couch 3:10pm
Once there was a little girl
whose mother died from a brain tumour
& the little girl didn’t sleep for four days
On the fourth day, March 31st 1993
the little girl looked for a sign
that she was going to be al-right
& the phone rang —
a nurse from the hospital was calling
to see if the little girl was al-right
& when the little girl said:
“DoDo, I Don’t Know How I Am”
The Nurse said She Would Come Right Over
The Little Girl hung up the phone
& went into Her Mother’s Kitchen
(but She doesn’t remember why)
whereupon She was struck
with the realization of an all-knowing
all-seeing Presence
She didn’t know what had just happened
so She went back to the daybed
where She had been trying to sleep
& as She sat, was sitting
The Cathedral Ceiling above
suddenly filled with Silver Streaks
of Light
Showering Down Upon Her
as She Cried Out
“Oh My God!
OH MY GOD!
OH MY GOD!”
Joanna Gilman Hyde 