Nancy Byrne Iannucci is the author of Temptation of Wood (Nixes Mate Review 2018). Her poems have appeared in a number of publications including Gargoyle, Ghost City Press, Clementine Unbound, Three Drops from a Cauldron, Dodging the Rain, 8 Poems, Glass: A Journal of Poetry (Poets Resist), Hobo Camp Review, and Typehouse Literary Magazine. Nancy is a Long Island, NY native who now resides in Troy, NY where she teaches history at the Emma Willard School.     

The Door

Holly hangs from his entryway at the base of a bare magnolia tree /

it was dry moss this morning / he must have switched it in the squall

/ sneaky shadow / he has yet to thank me for my craftsmanship: scraps

from the yard, jingly junk from the kitchen drawer, sticky battles with

a glue gun / Poortvliet tried to capture him many blooms ago: red hat,

blue coat, and face full of Whitman / my bracelet dangles above his

pebble path / inches to the door/ fingers tap twice the wood / stained

with my black tea / I do hope he answers me / my guide / to the other side

/ if only I could take you with me / where our impish faces shake the

shackles of authority / where we can be children again without judgment.

The Wolf      

                              -for Sandra Lindsay
  
 She casts aside her basket 
 feeling powerless to cure
  
 the wounds of countless 
 grandmothers consumed.
  
 She dare not follow the path 
 into the woods, dead-end trials 
  
 and felled attempts.
 the Wolf is never too far
  
 behind, big eyes watching 
 between weak branches.
  
 She sits patiently under
 thunder & lightning, 
  
 blocking out his worn-out howl. 
 words muffle under her mask-
  
 I’ll give him something to eat. 
  
 She rolls up her sleeve & bravely
 waits for the Wolf’s big teeth.