Mary Ellen Talley
Gioia Della Vita
For Valentine’s Day
I give you
one of Nancy Pelosi’s scarves
to place a little joie de vie
upon your shoulders
In deference
to her Italian background
you and I may call
the flowing silk
sciarpa
Remember the sound
of it is /sha’rpa/ –
she, nobody’s sugar,
granddaughter
of immigrants
Editor’s Note: The poet submitted this poem on February 1, 2019, anticipating our need for a poem suitable for Valentine’s Day. We had so many submissions at that time that we did not reach this submission in the queue until today. But we’re not passing it up just because it is April. We can always use a little joie de vie, especially these days.
Mary Ellen Talley’s poems have recently appeared 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.
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