joan mcnerney

Silenced

　
What is never spoken of and pushed down
becomes mold crawling over hearts.
Strangling our voices, it scuttles though
corridors, tunneling, warping each day.
My body…this swollen thing carried by
legs too thin and crippled to uphold it.
Pushed down, tightly clamped in now
full of pain, gasping for each breath.
Smothered.


Joan McNerney’s poetry has been included in numerous literary magazines such as Boston Review of the Arts, Kalliope, Mudfish, Spectrum and Word Thursdays. She was nominated twice for Best of the Net in 2011. Four of her books have been published by fine literary presses. The National Arts Club, Borders Bookstore, McNay Art Institute and other distinguished venues have hosted recitals of her work. A recent reading was sponsored by the American Academy of Poetry. Her latest title is Having Lunch with the Sky, A.P.D., Albany, New York.