in this white hour
between deep night and dawn
even the wren stares

Published by

Joan McNerney

Joan McNerney?s poetry has been included in numerous literary magazines such as Seven Circle Press, Dinner with the Muse, Blueline, Spectrum, and three Bright Spring Press Anthologies. She has been nominated three times for Best of the Net. Four of her books have been published by fine small literary presses.

8 thoughts on “”

  1. I've spent the day pondering this work. Now like that morning wren I stare at the white emptiness of the comments posted and feel sad.

    Steep mountain slope
    Snow and tears combine
    Avalanche

    Enjoyed your writing Joan

    Strider

  2. What strikes me about this poem is the unique reference to a specific time of day. One often experienced and hard to define. Because what is familiar is often the poet's biggest challenge. Here the poet shows us the awe of being a captive of time. Yes, the wren is free to fly away. Just as we are free to fall back asleep, get up and make coffee, etc. Instead, the wren stares, a creature in which to confide, perhaps. There is that sense of intimacy with the world. A dawn-ness to the poem.

    In This White Hour could almost be the title of a book. It makes me think of the phrase "the hour between wolf and dog" which is another way of saying "dusk" when shapes become hard to tell apart. Life is about ambiguity. Although in this poem, the time of day is not dusk but dawn. Still, a time of uncertainty. How we respond to this uncertainty is the question these lines raise, for me. The white hour when we are free to decide what it is we will create on this new blank page of a day.

    Joan seems to offer hope which she derives from a bird. One known for its joyful song.

    Thanks Joan.

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