Retired
Gloria sat beside the kitchen window
watching snow fall over sycamores
What could she hope for,
some good news brought by mail?
An unexpected call?
Her phone rang with reminders
of medical appointments.
No mail ever came but bills
from doctors, clinics, hospitals,
ads, charity appeals.
She had grown accustomed to suffering,
inured to the idea that her life was
without much happiness or success.
Accustomed to pain running along
her back, through her knees, her feet,
shortness of breath, cancers.
Now in retirement, what was really left?
Just bottles of pills to take every day.
Death used to be something Gloria could
brush off. It happened to someone else.
Now it seemed so close, as if it might
come any day from some cold hand.
©Joan McNerney
Her
Did you see that woman falling
from the escalator at Grand Central
Terminal? Lying in dark circles of
blood? Begging the police not to
tell anyone? She would be alright
when she got up.
What about her?
Did you see that woman screaming
in front of the newsstand? Hear
those screams of hatred spewing
from her face? Notice her eyes….
burning slits of light? Maybe
she can’t be tranquilized anymore?
What about her?
Did you see that woman walking
across the street? Wearing those
special shoes? All the toes
on her right foot cut off? Isn’t
it awful? Watch her getting on
the bus, all that pain on her face.
How much longer can she keep going?
What about her?
Did you see that woman? Ashen
and still as a corpse. Lying
by the side of the Palisades
Highway? Her hair so grey,
her legs so straight. Lying
in the short grass. She was
always running off schedule
Always trying to be on time.
What about her?
©Joan McNerney
Eve Speaks
Although just one snake is well known
in that so-called paradise, actually
there were tons of them.
When we ran away, I was never so
happy. My feet no longer touching
swarms of mushy poison.
Fruit smelled to high heaven in Eden but
berries tasted yum yum good as we filled
our faces hurrying happily to the east.
Adam replies
She’s so beautiful. I would have
followed her to the ends of earth.
I am her captive then and now.
©Joan McNerney
