Foster Child

 

She knows about the shapes of things

and asks where a glimmering door leads

as she faces a tall rectangle of mirror

in the Elder’s room at a Head Start

tribal preschool. We take my key

to pretend unlock the door that is not a door.

 

She reports an ache in her side just now

after running outside and I think of wings

where they join, tired as if a sparrow must flee

the path of raven. Pretending’s mirror

of silvered magic will not tuck into her pocket

where drums resound upon her small frame.

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Mary Ellen Talley’s poems have been published in over 100 literary journals as well as in several anthologies. A former school-based speech-language pathologist (SLP), she resides in Seattle, WA, USA. Her chapbook Postcards from the Lilac City was published by Finishing Line Press in 2020.