JOAN McNERNEY
★ ★ ★ ★
POETRY
Neptune’s Coquette
My toes throb over
hard pebbles. Waters slip
over slim ankles. Should I stand
shivering or go swim?
Lose my footprint?
Off I run, falling over myself
a mug of salty cider. This
wave an insecure bed.
Seaweed pillow. Carried by
moon to an abyss.
The floor of my mansion is
not tidy. I shall have sponges
for lunch. Ride with seahorses
perhaps.
On the far shore, my gigantic lover
smiles, kisses of surf. We thread
soft waters while sunshine
dresses us in golden sequins.
Rendezvous
That was the name of a paint
can from J&M Hardware.
With sweat lingering on her
face, she colored her room.
Tinted now like the insides of
ripe plums, like perfect grapes.
When the sizzling lemon sun
dropped from heaven, night
became moist and black.
Her fan whirled thick air
stained with cigarettes,
coffee, turpentine, white wine.
She sank into her wicker couch
as fog horns trailed the horizon.
Locusts screeched relentlessly
wanting more more more water.
Closed her eyes, remembering him,
tasting the feast of his smile.
Joan McNerney’s poetry has been included in numerous literary zines such as Moonlight Dreamers of Yellow Haze, Seven Circle Press, Dinner with the Muse, Blueline, Halcyon Days and included in Bright Hills Press, Kind of A Hurricane Press and Poppy Road Review anthologies. She has been nominated four times for Best of the Net.
