Golden Shovel: Happy Anniversary
Happy Anniversary
Golden Shovel form using “I Loved You Before I Was Born,”
by Li-Young Lee: “my share of time has been nothing
but your name outrunning my ever saying it clearly”
I say your skin is my
reservoir, the layers of flesh we share
elastic reactants swimming near a stand of
green grass that has been left unwatered past time
when smooth resiliency of stone has
the upper hand – slow hand, we have been
through seasons of enough or nothing
deep and shallow streams of years but
always hiked from mountain runoff where your
riverbed met mine we parsed each name
inside one another’s shallows as we kept outrunning
and outswimming flash floods toward calm though my
sidestroke tuckered me out as ever
broader waters approached, but I kept saying
your backstroke is my flotation device, it
stretches the length of a timeless river clearly
reservoir, the layers of flesh we share
elastic reactants swimming near a stand of
green grass that has been left unwatered past time
when smooth resiliency of stone has
the upper hand – slow hand, we have been
through seasons of enough or nothing
deep and shallow streams of years but
always hiked from mountain runoff where your
riverbed met mine we parsed each name
inside one another’s shallows as we kept outrunning
and outswimming flash floods toward calm though my
sidestroke tuckered me out as ever
broader waters approached, but I kept saying
your backstroke is my flotation device, it
stretches the length of a timeless river clearly
Mary Ellen Talley’s poems have appeared in many journals including Louisville Review, Deep Wild, and Trampoline as well as in multiple anthologies. Her chapbooks are: “Postcards from the Lilac City” from Finishing Line Press, “Taking Leave” from Kelsay Books, and “Infusion” online at Red Wolf Journal. She resides in Seattle, WA and worked for many years as a school-based speech/language pathologist (SLP.) Her website is www.maryellentalley.com.
