Two Poems by Mary Ellen Talley & Art by Pietra Dunmore

Sex on the Bus

Blood Sucker Main Squeeze

water walls swell
with mosquitos

marauding floaters
corneal philodendron

light resistant
combats citronella fanatic

fly slaughter squatter
newspaper

maneuvers the reactionary
ectoparasitic pregnancy

stagnant life raft
lemongrass away-stay

perfumed skin of attraction
crepuscular endurance

a squirrel races the boundary
between good neighbor fences
as dog rushes toward instinct

near miss
gravel flies

what do mosquitos
do all day outside the net cloister

google dormancy and find again
how the female pierces human skin
proving herself the bitch

solar pursuit shines brightly
on the west side of the house before dusk

larvae bloom
in a puddle on the hydrangea leaf

inquiry
can be blinding

Blood Sucker Main Squeeze

water walls swell
with mosquitos

marauding floaters
corneal philodendron

light resistant
combats citronella fanatic

fly slaughter squatter
newspaper

maneuvers the reactionary
ectoparasitic pregnancy

stagnant life raft
lemongrass away-stay

perfumed skin of attraction
crepuscular endurance

a squirrel races the boundary
between good neighbor fences
as dog rushes toward instinct

near miss
gravel flies

what do mosquitos
do all day outside the net cloister

google dormancy and find again
how the female pierces human skin
proving herself the bitch

solar pursuit shines brightly
on the west side of the house before dusk

larvae bloom
in a puddle on the hydrangea leaf

inquiry
can be blinding

Pietra Dunmore is an artist, poet and writer. Her writing has appeared in Causeway Lit, Pine Hills Review, The Intersection, Macro Magazine, Hippocampus Magazine, The Journal of New Jersey Poets, and Rigorous.
Social Media: Twitter:@PietraDunmore Instagram:@pietradunmore

Mary Ellen Talley’s poems have appeared widely in publications including Raven Chronicles,  Gyroscope, Flatbush Review, and Banshee, as well as in several poetry anthologies. Her poems have received two Pushcart nominations. A chapbook, “Postcards from the Lilac City,” is forthcoming from Finishing Line Press.