Latest Poem
- The Moment Before
(inspired by The Annunciation, a painting by Adam Pomeroy)
She is a girl. Not yet the Mother of God.
Her shoulders are bare of the blue velvet robes
in which history will drape her.Here, huddled in the corner of a bare room,
clean but austere, prelude to a stable,
there are no distractions.No vaulted ceilings, or shafts of golden light,
No books, None of the accoutrements
of other Annunciations.Here, in this moment before the yes,
is only the silence, the awe,
the wonder and the wondering.The yes that will come
has not yet been uttered
or imagined.Here is the moment
before the momentous.
We do not see what she sees.There is no angel in our line of sight,
only her own shadow cast against the bare wall
by the light of the messenger’s presence.Essence is all. A plain white shift,
A humble kerchief crowning her head,
The slender arm that will bearthe weight of salvation.
In the space of one silent breath,
She will change the world.
Gloria Heffernan is the author of four poetry collections, most recently Fused (Shanti Arts Publishing). Her craft book, Exploring Poetry of Presence (Back Porch Productions) won the CNY Book Award for Nonfiction. Gloria is the author of the collections Peregrinatio: Poems for Antarctica (Kelsay Books), and What the Gratitude List Said to the Bucket List, (New York Quarterly Books). Her forthcoming collection, Moments of Color and Cloud will be published by Shanti Arts in 2026. Gloria’s work appears in over 100 journals including Chautauqua Literary Journal, Presence, Dappled Things, Amethyst Review, The Healing Muse and One Art. She won the Naugatuck River Review Narrative Poetry Prize and the Seven Kitchen’s Press Keystone Chapbook Contest. She was a finalist in the Grayson Poetry Chapbook Contest, and the Catholic Literary Arts Advent Poetry Contest. Gloria holds an M.A. from New York University and teaches at the Downtown Writers Center in Syracuse, New York, where she lives with her husband Jim. She is also a workshop facilitator with a focus on poetry as a spiritual practice. To learn more, visit: www.gloriaheffernan.wordpress.com.
Adam Pomeroy is a figurative artist. His work includes still-life, landscape, portrait, figure painting and sculpture. His work can currently be seen at the Doorway Gallery in Dublin, the Kilbaha Gallery in Clare and with Richard Scott Sculpture. The solo exhibition “Nocturne” was in both the Doorway Gallery and Glór. The solo exhibition “Absence” was in the Glór Gallery.
A solo exhibition of his paintings and sculpture entitled “Deep Roots” was hosted by Cahir Arts.
A joint exhibition “Reawakening” was in the Glór Gallery. He has participated in group exhibitions in Ireland and the UK. His painting “The Annunciation” is on display in Ennis cathedral. “The Nativity” is on display in Galway cathedral. Three other biblical paintings were on display in Christchurch cathedral, Dublin. To learn more, visit: www.adampomeroyart.wordpress.com
Other recent poems