Praise for Scissored Moon

“Scissored Moon is as bold and astonishing as it is tender. Its poems are drenched in tactility—in the blood and bones of our lives, and they are informed by a fierce intelligence. The language is lush, rich, and exquisite in its details. A remarkable debut collection that introduces us to a poet whose stark poems, permeated by kindness itself, will linger palpably in our minds and hearts.”

—Jay Neugeboren, author of The American Sun & Wind Moving Picture Company

“Readers, enter the world created by poet Stacy Nigliazzo in her collection, Scissored Moon. Enter quietly, for this is a sacred space in which patients suffer and die, heal and rejoice. It’s a real world, one that ER nurse Nigliazzo knows intimately, and she takes us on a tour we can never forget. The poems in Scissored Moon come to us in a variety of forms, reflecting the numinous, evanescent moments that occur between a nurse and her patients. Stacy Nigliazzo’s poems are incredibly brave. She is not afraid to lead us into the chaos of the emergency room, the silence of the sick room, or to invite us to share the emotions she experiences along the way.”

—Cortney Davis, RN, MA, ANP, author of The Heart’s Truth: Essays on the Art of Nursing 

“‘Face to face—I will listen’ Indeed, Stacy Nigliazzo’s poems reflect her attentive listening to patients. But they also reflect compassionate seeing and sensitive touch. In fact, Scissored Moon embraces all the senses in its depiction of a nurse’s world fraught with illness, trauma, loss, endurance, hope, and sometimes healing. The true genius of these poems lies in their empathy, in the poet’s ability to express the deep connection she experiences with her subject.”

—Jack Coulehan, MD, author of Medicine Stone and Bursting With Danger and Music 

About the Author

Stacy R. Nigliazzo is an emergency room nurse. Her poems have appeared in numerous journals including Journal of the American Medical Association, Yale Journal for Humanities in Medicine, Third Space (Harvard Medical School), American Journal of Nursing, Annals of Internal Medicine, and Annals of Emergency Medicine. Her poem "Relic" was a finalist for the 2012 Marica and Jan Vilcek Poetry Prize. She reviews poetry for the American Journal of Nursing and the Bellevue Literary Review. In addition to her R.N. degree, she holds a B.S. in psychology from Texas A&M and has been recognized by Elsevier for nursing excellence.