The Tomato-coloured Couch 6:42pm
an elderly blond nurse
put Me in My Pyjamas
from My Wedding Trousseau
and as She thought I had laid down
to “settle”
I surprised Her
by popping up to declare:
“Wait A Minute –“
but what was that
I was thinking?
I didn’t say —
The Hawk Living Room 1:45pm
I am sitting in a beam of sun
in a velvet chair
anything can happen here
in My Mind
any thought can be unleashed
with or without choice:
How do I know
I am deliberately
recalling
the total lack
of sun
in The Yarmouth Psychiatric Unit?
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
Yarmouth, Nova Scotia
exiting the hospital
after visiting an old friend
Eye saw the emptied harbour view
for the first time
since Eye had been a patient
walled in by brick & glass
years & years ago —
The View, lit clear
spread Itself out to Me
w/ tidal banks exposing
the water basin of rivulets
& hummocks of spruce & rock
along Its edges —
for the first time
Eye saw Its Majesty
in the evening light
Eye felt the corporeality
of M(eye) Cure
The Hawk Corner Room 9:38pm
I Am Not In The Yarmouth Psychiatric Unit
making cup after cup of tea
I Am In My Home
Trapped By Carpenters
Flooring Guys
& A Husband Who May Come Home
Early
The Hawk Queen Bed 11:22pm
That was My Mother
Who made Me get out
from under the pink hospital sheet
all 111 pounds of Me
to ask The Nurse On Night Shift
to get Me something to eat
“We don’t normally do this,” She said
as I toasted, buttered and ate
six pieces of bread
The Tomato-coloured Couch 6:47pm
I was That 37 Year-old
with The New Haircut
back from Pass
— why was I even in There?
Because I thought
I was The Second Coming of Christ
wearing A Sign on My Blouse
“Waiting To Be Believed”
with A Helium Balloon tied
to My Very Thin Wrist
being told by Nurses
to take off My “inappropriate” Sign
& My Balloon
so They would agree
to talk to Me
Joanna Gilman Hyde 