December 2024
Bio Note: The Gift of Glossophobia [Kelsay Books] is the title of my debut poetry collection. Glossophobia? A fear of speaking or public performance. You might wonder, why a "gift"? Without being stricken, I may not have written down many of my poems.
The Simmer of Sunlight
Joy is not made to be a crumb.
— Mary Oliver
The air a sea of creatures — horseflies and zigzagging birds —
clipping crisscross past glinting electric wires skip rope with the sun.
The scent of sappy evergreen engages my sense of seasons to come
while I sip coffee iced and the sunlight simmers on my polished toes.
Treasure the memory of this day against the underside of fall before
winter’s hurry-to-the-door-don’t-let-the-cold-in days on their way.
No, no, no — no one can steal this surge from me
to begin my healing and stop the bloodletting.
From The Gift of Glossophobia and exhibited in SUNY Orange Hall Gallery
©2024 Mary Louise Kiernan
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