Mary Louise Kiernan

Mappa Mundi Echoes

Underground
in the abandoned
Widow Jane Mine,
a jazzman
in a porkpie hat
ambles on stage
between lime pillars
chiseled like blocks
of bittersweet chocolate.
From thick-wicked
vanilla candles,
flames flicker
along the gully wall
while creamy fresh notes flow
from the bell of his soprano sax.
The room of rock claimed,
the goateed player slowly
closes his eyes and airily
caresses his lips over and
around that lucky mouthpiece.

Published in Chronogram Magazine


My American Star Quilt

somewhere in the unknown world/
a yellow eyed woman/
sits with her daughter/
quilting.
                —Lucille Clifton

my star quilt   outstretched  across my car’s hood
another      yard sale          another       letting go
another home to pack up    releasing  once again
when a young mother with two little ones  claims
her church is collecting blankets            for victims
of Hurricane Katrina     in New Orleans, Louisiana

I’d handsewn bias tape  to make loops to hang it
too perfect, too precious         to use as a blanket
I think back      to the summer day     I first held it
a hundred dollars saved to buy post-baby clothes
instead             I turned back to the upscale shop
in Bridgehampton   east of the Indian reservation

Stitched by             Native American tribeswomen
a platinumed saleswoman      took pride in telling
wrapping it          in layers    of aqua tissue paper
as if it might break          Yes, please take it, I say
to the young mother           a yellow eyed woman
teaching me     my quilt was never mine    to keep

Published in Inscape 2020


The Relief

I do not like to write.
I like having written.
~ William Zinsser

So, you may ask:
When is my best time
to write? So, I say,
When is the time best
to pluck out one’s thorns?
For two or three hours
I hunch over,
apply drawing salve,
dislodge barbs,
extract shards,
recreate splintered scenes
deeply embedded,
tweeze thoughts
word by word
ever so slowly
until
my eye sockets
demand mercy.

From “The Gift of Glossophobia” (Kelsay Books, 2021)


About the Author

Mary Louise Kiernan’s poetry has been published in Broad River Review, Common Ground Review, The Delmarva Review, Sanskrit Literary-Arts Magazine, Chronogram Magazine, Metropolitan Diary in The New York Times, in the anthology Mightier—Poets for Social Justice, and elsewhere. She was awarded the 2015 Poetry Prize co-sponsored by Tempe Public Library and Arizona State University. Her debut full-length collection, "The Gift of Glossophobia," is a 2021 release from Kelsay Books. Follow Mary Louise on Instagram @postsbymarylouise. Visit her website at marylouisekiernan.com.

kiernan.marylouise@gmail.com
Website: marylouisekiernan.com
Instagram: @postsbymarylouise

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