Two Poems
by Mary Ellen Talley
Poetry
Jeremy Not Talking Yet
At four
can’t say hi
can babble.
I repeat him.
He repeats me.
Comes
his bu,
my bu
bu
bye.
Alternate variations
on a bu theme.
Repeat
and vary,
never straying far
for place and manner,
landmarks
in his little echo cave
of tongue and lips.
Laughing vocal play
on a preschool floor.
Once again,
bu
bu
bu
bye
bye
hi
I say hi with rising intonation
inviting imitation.
And finally,
that one word we’d all been
trying for,
his hi.
Off went the fire alarm,
and out we walked
in routine monthly practice.
He had said a useful word
and I had learned to babble
at 10:50 a.m.
the day before Thanksgiving.
word rhythms
Carnivores of meaning clamor
clamor – as words stew – simmer
in crock pots of intonation
Phrases break up think aloud periphery
and haphazard logjams
dodge non sequiturs
Articulated combos rise and fall,
pulse, echo, amplify
in whimsical regulation
Once, dance, word, flow, hope, sing, time
Single syllables
bedazzle in the dictionary
Muscle at the tongue tip
song title possible mishap
remember to lift at the downbeat
Each pulse air propels energy
transforming meaning wafting
to a very harried cortex
Round words smooth vowels smooth valley of air
syncopated cadence tumble
jazz heaving in scat time
About the Author
Mary Ellen Talley’s poems have recently been published in Raven Chronicles, U City Review and Ekphrastic Review as well as in anthologies, All We Can Hold and Ice Cream Poems. Her poetry has received two Pushcart Nominations. Experience working in special education as a speech-language pathologist (SLP) informs her poetry.