Poems grab your heart with the Big Love of “One Love”, “Perfect Love”, “Nowhere to Go”, and “Open Arms”. While other poems are about the challenges we face in Real Life: how to accept, change, recover and thrive. And Joan’s father is a gentle force in poems throughout the book, including “Dark Alleys Don’t Scare Me” and “Thank you, Goodbye”.

Laugh and cry. Come for the ride. Tearjerkers and silliness mingle in this accessible, enjoyable poetry collection.

Poetry is a magical, yet effective, way to understand ourselves. shed some tears, then laugh at ourselves, and, finally, free ourselves! I am a humble servant of some I-don’t-know-what Healing Power which begs and nags me to write poetry. And I happily submit! I hope these poems brighten your day or free you in some way! I offer my poems and all my love, with open arms!

I Can’t Make You Happy

I might make you smile

I might make you laugh

I can’t make you happy

But you can

Mama Africa

Granted, I don’t look like your typical one love Rasta

I’m about as white as they come…

I am of ISH descent

Irish, Danish, Swedish

I’m not cool

My graying hair pulled back with bobby pins and rubber bands

But when I went to Ghana

For the first time, I felt home

Home, like ommmmm, home

I felt grounded and centered and loved

In the arms of Mama Africa

I was welcomed to the family

To any family

Every family

Like a daughter

People greeted me

Sat with me

Danced with me

Sang with me

Drummed with me

Painted with me

Talked with me

Dancing healed my aching feet

Singing gave me confidence and joy

Drumming connected me to the beat of the people

The heart of the earth

Beating in my chest and in my hands

Now wherever I am,

I feel beautiful

I feel loved

I feel creative

Because this whitey fears nothing

Forever a daughter in the loving embrace

Of

Mama Africa

Fragile

I’m holding on to you tightly

I’ve got the same grip

As a toddler who

Latches on to mom’s leg

So, you’re saying

It’s hard to walk

When I do that?

I’m analyzing your every word.

And every syllable

Gives me new ways

To doubt your love

So, you’re saying

It’s hard to talk

When I do that?

I Ain’t No Jesus

I ain’t no Jesus

But, I would like to be

I never wanted to be a nun

Much less a priest

I didn’t want to grow up to be a saint

like my sisters did

I didn’t like going to church when I was young

And going again is not in my plans

And still, I don’t want to read any holy books

Or travel to any holy lands

But I just want to BE Jesus. Or Jesus-ish.

I want to have Jesus eyes

I want to do the Jesus walk

I want to have Jesus hands

And think the Jesus thoughts

But if you ask my friends

They’ll tell you

For sure that

I ain’t no Jesus

But, I want to be