Mary Ellen Talley

Mary Ellen Talley's poems have been published in journals such as Banshee, Gyroscope, and Ekphrastic Review as well as in anthologies such as Raising Lilly Ledbetter and Sing the Salmon Home. Her poems have received three Pushcart nominations. A chapbook, “Postcards from the Lilac City” was published by Finishing Line Press in 2020 and a forthcoming collection will be published by Kelsay Press.

Enjoy her website here: maryellentalley.com

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► Mary Ellen Talley's microchap & (selected) poems are available below. Download the single-page PDF by clicking the title.

Origami Microchap with Selected Poems

Fresh Pollen

Click title to download micro

Cover photo by author

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1.
Clocks tick
as sunflowers
reach tall to blossom

Sun trails the fence line
while a season
makes changes

The oncology nurses
are pros
at what they do

2.
Bushy tailed squirrels
scamper fence posts
to find a moon of ripe seeds

Laden with rain
one sunflower
falls on a sidewalk

Protocol demands
clean non-latex gloves
for every procedure

5.
Bouquets
and single flowers
crowd plastic buckets

Sunflowers sell
for three dollars
a stem

Time is the silent
infusion
the catheter drips

6.
Autumn rain falls
into the open flower
cup

Spent flowers
will mulch into fresh plantings
next season

No reason more
than healing
to persuade blessing

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Poets