Joan McNerney, USA

THEN

After twenty two

I swore to stay single. 

I’d be a monkey’s aunt

before becoming a slave

to any man

giving up my name

losing my ambition

subordinate to HIM.

9 to 5

bad enough

forget 24/7!

Crazy lazy, crazy lazy.

No good renegade,

heretic, gypsy.

Too smart for

her own good.

But as luck had it

one guy fell head

over heels over me

and my defiant ways.

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.

SUPER WOMAN

I wanna become super woman

learn Portuguese in sixty seconds

end pollution single-handedly

feed Rice-A-Roni to the planet

win awards left and right.

I wanna become super woman

paint the Taj Mahal red

knock down bureaucrats by the dozens

create creative pandemonium

flying off the edge of everything.

Super woman.

Joan McNerney’s poetry has been included in numerous literary magazines such as Seven Circle Press, Dinner with the Muse, Warriors with Wings, Blueline, and Halcyon Days.  Four Bright Hills Press Anthologies, several Poppy Road Review Journals, and numerous Kind of A Hurricane Press Publications have accepted her work.  Her latest title is Having Lunch with the Sky and she has four Best of the Net nominations. 

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Women, Power & Creativity :: Setu, March 2019