Mary Ellen Talley
#resist
slam dunk
punch drunk
enough said
well said
put the well of fears to bed
the wall of fear has no street cred
I hope to God the majority is now incred-
ulous, we are rebellious,
code word resist-
ance, there are no proper nouns
found in the white house anymore,
the empty rhetoric
grows tiresome
then demonic
I feel the tear gas
in my orifice of hope
official
I was baptized
and feared a bit
my father’s alcohol,
the nun’s ruler,
but even young I called out
to the new black and white TV
in the blonde console,
I LIKE IKE.
I wanted Mamie’s bangs.
I never knew JFK cavorted with Marilyn
until later after hope
was optional.
At least I had voting rights
to comment on the blight.
My bloating cheeks could imitate
Tricky Dick’s left-right jowls
but still I hoped
because I knew history
would turn us right
and the three branches of govern-
momentum would wait a crisis out,
endure
because we would spurn the bastard,
avenge Kent State after tear gas
retaliation, gun shots, shun guts,
boot thumps. Bye Bye Miss American Pie,
I stand on shaky ground
I pound my fist
while more storm, deform,
impale themselves on the emperor’s
mis-constructed barriers.
Border crossing
Christ wasn’t on the cross long
before there was discord
in his ranks.
The dirty news comes out
in dribbles.
It is a mess, full-court press.
Now were trash talking on the court,
in the courtroom,
or catching saliva’s blood
from the gash
where we tried to catch the ball
but it smashed our glasses.
Mary Ellen Talley’s poems have been published in Raven Chronicles, U City Review and Ekphrastic Review as well as in anthologies, All We Can Hold and Ice Cream Poems. Indolent Press has published her poems in What Rough Beast and 35 Years of Aids. Her poetry has received two Pushcart Nominations.
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