Stanzaic Stylings

Scarves I want to make scarves from the sky. Since I'm not much of a seamstress, here's hoping it won't be too hard. To start I'll just pick up a fleecy white cloud to cover my neck. Maybe create a dove grey scarf and cut out pale blue ones too.  Make entire closets full of them. At sunset I will fashion boas of bright ruby and tangerine. If lucky I'll find some rainbow kaleidoscopes to wrap up in. My  midnight  shawl will be long gleaming ebony covering the shoulders keeping in warmth. I will list them on eBay and Craig's, hang pictures on my Facebook wall. Imagine, everybody will want them! Would you like one too? Better put your order in now. Joan McNerney’s poetry has been included in numerous literary magazines such as Seven Circle Press, Dinner with the Muse, Moonlight Dreamers of Yellow Haze, Blueline, and Halcyon Days.  Three Bright Hills Press Anthologies, several Poppy Road Revi...

Photo by Joanne Olivieri Trees of Heaven Those are tough trees growing in slums. With no need of rich soil or pruning, they rise in abandoned lots. These are trees that survive rubbish, rodents noxious chemicals. Not  easily cut down,  they stand against gaunt tenements. Climbing skyward, delicate palm leaves flourish flowering pods. Trees of Heaven give children glimpses of bright emerald each morning. Stars play peek-a-boo between their branches through long nights. Who has said a taste of paradise is only for the rich? BIO:  Joan McNerney’s poetry has been included in numerous literary magazines such as Seven Circle Press, Dinner with the Muse, Moonlight Dreamers of Yellow Haze, Blueline, and Halcyon Days.  Three Bright Hills Press Anthologies, several Poppy Road Review Journals, and numerous Kind of A Hurricane Press Publications have accepted her work.  Her latest title is Having Lunch...

Haiku Cats – take your pick of the litter Voyeur Inquisitive... the gingersnap cat stares as I get undressed. ------------------------ Maestro What does this cat think strumming his tail with such ease to fugues of Bach? ------------------- Shut Eye Black and white kitten lying under clothesline in soft circles of sleep. ------------------- Street Walker Calico cat curving corners against the cold. -------------------- Free Throw A tiger cat with big green eyes tosses balls of yarn. Joan McNerney’s poetry has been included in numerous literary magazines such as Seven Circle Press, Dinner with the Muse, Moonlight Dreamers of Yellow Haze, Blueline, and Halcyon Days.  Three Bright Hills Press Anthologies, several Poppy Road Review Journals, and numerous Kind of A Hurricane Press Publications have accepted her work.  Her latest title is Having Lunch with the Sky and she has four Best of the Net nominations. 

Invitation Would you like to unwind an afternoon at the lake? Solar sparks spilling over us in showers of golden sizzle. Put on short shorts, skimpy tops, stick our toes into oozy mud. Breezes will shake treetops while we listen to birdsongs. Why not float on new grass facing an Alice blue sky? Read celestial comic strips from mounds of clouds. We can count sunbeams, chase yellow butterflies. Devour bowls of cherries painting our lips crimson. This noontime is perfumed with illions of wild flowers. Let’s go away all day...be embraced by the goddess. Joan McNerney’s poetry has been included in numerous literary magazines such as Seven Circle Press, Dinner with the Muse, Moonlight Dreamers of Yellow Haze, Blueline, and Halcyon Days.  Three Bright Hills Press Anthologies, several Poppy Road Review Journals, and numerous Kind of A Hurricane Press Publications have accepted her work.  Her latest title is Having Lu...

Photo by Joanne Olivieri Imagine Imagine to be a bird slicing  air with wings. Up up over that horizon soaring through clouds away from solemn earth. Shining, shimmering  far above this sphere into  clear blue light. Cutting through sky gliding over oceans eyes open all seeing. Awake all day all night brushing rushing against the four winds. Imagine to be a bird. Joan McNerney’s poetry has been included in numerous literary magazines such as Seven Circle Press, Dinner with the Muse, Moonlight Dreamers of Yellow Haze, Blueline, and Halcyon Days.  Three Bright Hills Press Anthologies, several Poppy Road Review Journals, and numerous Kind of A Hurricane Press Publications have accepted her work.  Her latest title is Having Lunch with the Sky and she has four Best of the Net nominations. 

Virtual Love A long slim poem full of hyperbole & alliteration drifted into the wrong e-mail box. There she met an erudite rich text format file. They became attached. Her fleeting metaphors lifted his technical jargon. They were a word couple spinning through cyber space giddy with inappropriate syllables. Joan McNerney’s poetry has been included in numerous literary magazines such as Seven Circle Press, Dinner with the Muse, Moonlight Dreamers of Yellow Haze, Blueline, and Halcyon Days.  Three Bright Hills Press Anthologies, several Poppy Road Review Journals, and numerous Kind of A Hurricane Press Publications have accepted her work.  Her latest title is Having Lunch with the Sky and she has four Best of the Net nominations. 

Thrift Shop I descend clutching a teetering banister to the bowels of this holy place. A sign welcomes me to St. Mary’s Basement Boutique where scent of unloved clothing assaults me. I finger grubby blouses and skirts hanging limp week after week unwanted. Where is it? Hidden beneath mounds of faded tee shirts? Where is that swag I will brag on for months? At last I uncover something beyond belief….a mohair sweater snow white with pastel flowers. A good fit, my prayer answered. Retired ladies glance up. They are volunteers filling another empty afternoon. The cashier consults her price list. “One dollar” she says as I reply with quick “thanks” fleeing blissfully. When I get home, my bonanza is baptized in cool water and suds now reborn, lustrous and all mine. Joan McNerney’s poetry has been included in numerous literary magazines such as Seven Circle Press, Dinner with the Muse, Moonlight Dreamers of Yellow ...

In Flight A tree waves wooing birds who fly from branch to branch looking for a home. Congregations of wrens winging off to choral practice stop at bird feeders first. An outdoor concert. Which is sweeter, the flute or bird song in woods? Joan McNerney’s poetry has been included in numerous literary magazines such as Seven Circle Press, Dinner with the Muse, Moonlight Dreamers of Yellow Haze, Blueline, and Halcyon Days.  Three Bright Hills Press Anthologies, several Poppy Road Review Journals, and numerous Kind of A Hurricane Press Publications have accepted her work.  Her latest title is Having Lunch with the Sky and she has four Best of the Net nominations. 

I Want A Writer's Block A real writer's block.  After I'm finished writing, I could run and skip down streets with all the other writers on the block. Compare notes, exaggerate and have fun. Another good one would be a crystal block on which the great master works are contained. Stick it in a pocket and read it with my fingertips.  Why strain my vision? How about this?  A big block of ice cream oozing pass throat filled with inspiration. Or a chocolate block made from creamy images. I want a writer's block.  Any or all of the above. Joan McNerney’s poetry has been included in numerous literary magazines such as Seven Circle Press, Dinner with the Muse, Moonlight Dreamers of Yellow Haze, Blueline, and Halcyon Days.  Three Bright Hills Press Anthologies, several Poppy Road Review Journals, and numerous Kind of A Hurricane Press Publications have accepted her work.  Her latest title is Having Lunch with the Sky and she ha...

Blue your eyes Blue your eyes this edge of snow in silent sky. Brown eyes soft tree bark patterns as yellow flicks sparkle in wintry sun. And now it seems your eyes are green green as spruce turning to grey eyes glancing across as if from a mountainside. Your eyes two violets hidden beneath frost. Close your eyes as sleepless stars glide through night in aerial ballet. Black coal eyes glowing on fire red flames leaping out of eyes burning blue your eyes. Joan McNerney’s poetry has been included in numerous literary magazines such as Seven Circle Press, Dinner with the Muse, Moonlight Dreamers of Yellow Haze, Blueline, and Halcyon Days.  Three Bright Hills Press Anthologies, several Poppy Road Review Journals, and numerous Kind of A Hurricane Press Publications have accepted her work.  Her latest title is Having Lunch with the Sky and she has four Best of the Net nominations. 

Wintry Bouquet This January during wide nights hemmed by blackness, I remember roses. Pink yellow red violet those satin blooms of June. We must wait five months before seeing blossoms, touch their brightness crush their scent with fingertips. Now there are only ebony pools of winter’s heavy ink of darkness. Dipping into memory of my lips touching petals tantalizing sweet buds. My body longs for softness. I glimpse brilliant faces of flowers right before me as I burrow beneath frosty blankets. Bracing against that long, cold nocturnal of wind and shadow. Joan McNerney’s poetry has been included in numerous literary magazines such as Seven Circle Press, Dinner with the Muse, Moonlight Dreamers of Yellow Haze, Blueline, and Halcyon Days.  Three Bright Hills Press Anthologies, several Poppy Road Review Journals, and numerous Kind of A Hurricane Press Publications have accepted her work.  Her latest title is Having Lunc...

I Believe in Trees Those silent citadels standing against long nights of wind and cold. Broken willow bramble scratches a pale sky after yesterday’s ice storm. Each spring small buds blossom as bugs and butterflies orbit boughs. Green new leaf fits your hand so perfectly. The future lies in your palm. Birds reciting litany in woods. Each rainfall the forest  grows taller, more verdant. Summer afternoons…trees sashay in sunshine showing off their emerald gowns. Winds sway maple branches. Leaves drop like butterflies falling to the warm earth. Red yellow brown carpets of crunchy foliage spread over roads welcoming us. Joan McNerney’s poetry has been included in numerous literary magazines such as Seven Circle Press, Dinner with the Muse, Moonlight Dreamers of Yellow Haze, Blueline, and Halcyon Days.  Three Bright Hills Press Anthologies, several Poppy Road Review Journals, and numerous Kind of A Hurricane P...

Effective Immediately I want to become an Ambassador for Rain! Why the bad image? Birds love rain.  Tweeting through dry spells for water. They flutter from leaf to bud for a sip. It’s super creative… feeding tree roots, wild flowers. Without rain…no blessed blue lakes, rivers, streams. Open your eyes.  Rain clings  to window panes, miniature globes of splendor.  Listen as pitter pattering skips over rooftops. Consider your thirst for  liquid pleasures. Gather up in green reverie. Dance barefoot on this emerald earth joining me in jubilant chorus. Joan McNerney’s poetry has been included in numerous literary magazines such as Seven Circle Press, Dinner with the Muse, Moonlight Dreamers of Yellow Haze, Blueline, and Halcyon Days.  Three Bright Hills Press Anthologies, several Poppy Road Review Journals, and numerous Kind of A Hurricane Press Publications have accepted her work.  Her latest title...

Angel I want to make an angel in the snow though I am old for that sort of thing. That is something I have never done.  A woman from Vermont told me about it. Nobody made slush angels in Brooklyn…unheard of… with no meadows to angel in. We just threw hard packed snowballs at each other  sliding over icy streets. Now I will take my pick of snow.  Find a perfect field of that lush white stuff. I will lay down on a cool bed flapping my arms up and down to make sacred patterns. Yes, I will angel away over and over until finally I fly off to heaven. Want to wing it with me? Joan McNerney’s poetry has been included in numerous literary magazines such as Seven Circle Press, Dinner with the Muse, Moonlight Dreamers of Yellow Haze, Blueline, and Halcyon Days.  Three Bright Hills Press Anthologies, several Poppy Road Review Journals, and numerous Kind of A Hurricane Press Publications have accepted her work. ...

Seasons of Love Spring Tide Green I wore green that night when we danced how we danced at the picnic during     spring lustrous and green. Rainfalls flooded the air where we danced. You left whispering sweet words       kissing my eyes closed. Sliding under green green waters slipping sliding over night      hiding in nebulae turning we dance finding your hand how we dance this endless night. Last Summer Golden sunshine spilling over cathedrals of trees forest of summer. Your eyes are oceans of light beams of light soft beaming dancing through rivers of memory. Forest of rivers drowning in oceans of eyes. Your eyes when sunset spreads over sand dunes warm golden. Stars gliding past heaven as night explodes in cathedrals of light. We bed down together in forest of memories your body so strong golden last summer with you. Ap...