I planted my garden

on the wrong side
of moon forgetting
tides of ocean
lunar wax wane

only madness
was cultivated
there underground
tubular roots
corpulent veins

flowers called
despair gave off
a single fruit…

I ate it
my laughter
becoming harsh
my eyes grew
oblique.

 

Collage © Ira Joel Haber

 

Methuselah Speaks

Living in shadows I scarcely stir.
Each motion brings pain with fear
of falling, breaking brittle bones
or bruising my spider web skin.

I see so little. Sunlight blinds my
rheumy eyes. Night dims my world
leaving just vague outlines.

Food is stale, bitter. Thirst savage.
No liquids quench me. My bodily
functions often fail befouling me.

All these years weigh down my soul.
Hearing faded, everything in whispers.
My breath is raspy, without strength.

My mind dull with defeat. I count only
my losses and remember nothing
but the dead. My memory is pain.

I cannot celebrate births. My great
grandchildren died so long ago.
Why must I always wait here?

God, have you forgotten me?

 

Joan McNerney’s poetry has been included in numerous literary magazines such as Seven Circle Press, Dinner with the Muse, Blueline, Spectrum, three Bright Spring Press Anthologies and several Kind of A Hurricane Publications. She has been nominated three times for Best of the Net. Poet and Geek recognized her work as their best poem of 2013. Four of her books have been published by fine small literary presses and she has three e-book titles.

Ira Joel Haber was born and lives in Brooklyn. He is a sculptor, painter, book dealer, photographer and teacher. His work has been seen in numerous group shows both in USA and Europe and he has had 9 one man shows including several retrospectives of his sculpture. His work is in the collections of The Whitney Museum Of American Art, New York University, The Guggenheim Museum, The Hirshhorn Museum and The Albright-Knox Art Gallery. Since 2007 His paintings, drawings, photographs and collages have been published in over 160 on line and print magazines. He has received three National Endowment for the Arts Fellowships, two Pollock-Krasner grants, the Adolph Gottlieb Foundation grant and, in 2010, he received a grant from Artists’ Fellowship Inc. He currently teaches art to retired public school teachers at The United Federation of Teachers program in Brooklyn.