Crazy Hot
written by: Joan McNerney
We shuffle through grocery stores. Limp
lettuce, mushy tomatoes languish on counters.
Prices rise inexorably when we drive to
gas stations where fumes fill our nostrils.
My throat is dry and coated with metallic taste.
I guzzle a bottle of ice tea, saccharine sweet.
Our town park floods with children spilling over
brown grass, their shouts cutting the air.
Laundry comes out piping hot from
the dryer, zippers burning my fingers.
Clumps of wrinkled clothes wobble on chairs.
Unopened mail and dust cover my table.
A nylon nightgown sticks to my skin as
fans push warm air brushing my face.
The shrill of cicadas drown the night.
I wait now to melt into oblivion.
Joan McNerney has been the recipient of three scholarships. She has recited her work at the National Arts Club, New York City, State University of New York, Oneonta, McNay Art Institute, San Antonio and the University of Houston, Texas. Published worldwide in over thirty five countries, her work has appeared in literary publications too numerous to mention. Four Best of the Net nominations have been awarded to her. The Muse in Miniature, Love Poems for Michael and At Work are available on Amazon. A new release entitled Light & Shadow explores the recent historic COVID pandemic.
Latest posts by Joan McNerney (see all)
- Wonder Lotion - October 8, 2024
- Knave - June 27, 2024
- My Parallel Joan - March 11, 2024
