Another
Night
Once
again waking
to
flashing blue lights.
More
guns,
more
assault weapons,
more
mass shootings,
more
death.
Darkness
pierced by sirens,
angry
screams,
air
spinning with smoke.
Blood
on streets
slick
and slippery.
My
weary eyes want
to
stay shut and
my
lips pray for
long
nights of silence.
Joan
McNerney
Bar
Fly
At
Jewel Box Tavern
lights
are always dim
so
you can’t look closely.
Wearing
stiletto heels, she
traipses
along followed by
billows
of cheap perfume.
Dressed
in a second skin of
electric
blue velveteen
covered
with silver glitz.
She
looks for a mark, some
clown
who carries thick wads
of
cash and a stash of coke.
Tapping
the shoulder of
the
willing joker with her long
lacquered
fingernails.
First
she must meet him
in
the back alley to pay up
with
her pound of flesh.
Showing
its age, her face
is
coated by pastes, crèmes,
thick
rouge, blazing red lipstick.
Her
brown eyes encrusted with
liners,
mascara and shadow
revealed
a certain sadness,
Secreted
in the dark and dank
women’s
room, she snorts
that
magical white powder.
Nothing
matters now.
There
is no despair
only
this embrace of bliss.
Joan
McNerney
Fear
Sneaks under shadows
lurking
in corners ready to rear
its head
folded in neat lab reports
charting
white blood cells over
edge running wild.
Or hiding along icy roads
when
day ends with sea gulls
squalling
through steel grey skies.
Brake belts wheeze and
whine
snapping apart careening
us
against the long cold night.
Official white envelopes
stuffed with
subpoenas wait at the
mailbox.
Memories of hot words
burning
razor blades slash across
our faces.
Fires leap from rooms
where twisted
wires dance like miniature
skeletons.
We stand apart inhaling
this mean
air choking on our own
breath.
Joan McNerney
Eleventh Hour
Wrapped
in darkness we can
no longer deceive ourselves.
Our smiling masks float away.
We snake here, there
from one side to another.
How many times do we rip off
blankets only to claw more on?
Listening to zzzzzz of traffic,
mumble of freight trains, fog horns.
Listening to wheezing,
feeling muscles throb.
How can we find comfort?
Say same word over and over
again again falling falling to sleep.
I will stop measuring what was lost.
I will become brave.
Let slumber come covering me.
Let my mouth droop, fingers tingle.
Wishing something cool…soft…sweet.
Now I will curl like a fetus
gathering into myself
hoping to awake new born.
Joan McNerney
This Savage God
Calamity hides under cover
lurking in corners ready
to rear its head.
It lies in neat lab reports
charting white blood cells
run wild.
What is this savage God
who pushes us down to comas?
Sneaking along icy roads
daylight ends while sea gulls
circle steel grey skies.
Brake belts wheeze and whine
snapping apart as we careen
against the long cold night.
What is this savage God
who lunges us into storms?
An official white envelope
stuffed with subpoenas
waits at the mailbox.
Memories of hot words
like razor blades slash
across our faces.
What is this savage God
who rips open the heart?
So we stand on the edge
breathing mean air
smelling fear.
Fires leaping out of rooms
where twisted wires
blaze from walls.
What is this savage God
who stabs us with flames?
Joan McNerney
