Tag: Mary Ellen Redmond

One August Afternoon by Mary Ellen Redmond

~ ONE ART ~ 3 Comments

One August Afternoon

The birds gather at my birdbath,
bathing and drinking as if it were a pool party.

The chickadees and sparrows
flit and twitch, alight and leave.

That chickadee there, never rests, pecks
at the water, her head moving, always alert.

One wren flutters in, splashes about,
chittering the entire time.

Sit here long enough, and you’ll notice
how the sun filters through the oak leaves,

moves across the yard highlighting:
a blue hydrangea, a pine bough, patch of ferns.

One little sparrow, after some hesitation
sits on the rim, sips, throws her head back.

I see the rippling
of her delicate white throat.

The rippling of her throat
is enough and too much,

in the same way a fiddlehead
resembles a baby’s curled fist,

or when one considers the
tessellation of a honeycomb.

In our neighbor’s yard,
two teenage girls are in the pool again.

I hear them splashing and arguing.
They’ve been bickering all week.

*

Mary Ellen Redmond’s poems have appeared in The Drunken Boat, Free State Review, Comstock Review, Cape Cod Review, Rattle, ONE ART, and The Cortland Review, but the publication she is most proud of is the poem tattooed on her son’s ribcage. A former slam poet, she represented Cape Cod at the National Poetry Slam Competition in Providence, RI. She has been featured twice on WCAI’s Poetry Sundays and her interview with poet Greg Orr was featured in The Drunken Boat. Her poem “Fifty-Six Days” earned a Best of the Net Nomination in 2016 and “Joy is not made to be a crumb” was nominated for a Pushcart Prize in 2024. She recently placed second in the 2024 Joe Gouveia Outermost Poetry Contest judged by Marge Piercy. The Ocean Effect, her second chapbook, was published by Finishing Line Press. Her third chapbook I Have One Student will be published in June 2026.

Another Reason Why I Don’t Keep a Gun in the House by Mary Ellen Redmond

~ ONE ART ~ 2 Comments

Another Reason Why I Don’t Keep a Gun in the House

My neighbor on the street behind me
is using his leaf blower on this Fourth of July
during that customary lull between the parade and fireworks,
when babies nap and dogs find solace in the shade.

It sounds like a giant mosquito hovering over
our neighborhood disrupting our quiet afternoon.
But when the buzzing continues for over an hour,
I ride my bike around the corner to investigate,

and there he is on his front lawn, shirtless, in the most
patriotic way —slightly hairy chest, gold chain— blowing
his lawn clean of any leaf, stick, piece of detritus

that has landed on his artificial turf.
The yard is bordered by dozens of tiny flags stuck
between plastic red geraniums, perpetually in bloom.
Why not vacuum the whole damn yard?

Peddling home, I imagine him a member of the militia,
a true Patriot—
defending his country,
his rights, his piece of the pie,
blowing those Red Coats away,
one by one,
his leaf blower resting on his arm.

*

Mary Ellen Redmond’s poems have appeared in a number of journals including Rattle and The Cortland Review, but the publication she is most proud of is the poem tattooed on her son’s ribcage. Her interview with Gregory Orr was published in The Drunken Boat. Her poem “Fifty-Six Days” earned a Best of the Net nomination in 2016 and her poem “Joy is not made to be a crumb” was nominated for a Pushcart Prize in 2024.

Tulips by Mary Ellen Redmond

~ ONE ART ~ 1 Comment

Tulips

I love tulips, especially in the dead of winter.
I love them even when they die.
They become something else entirely,
and somehow, more beautiful.
The petals dry and shrink and their bright colors fade.
Some crimp and curl creating petal-globes
surrounding the stamen and style.
Others flatten like a splayed star
revealing their inner workings.
Soon, the long green stems will arc
from the vase towards the table
resembling old women burdened
by the task of staying alive.
Now, I see the petals as tongues—
talking among themselves.

*

Mary Ellen Redmond’s poems have appeared in a number of journals including Rattle and The Cortland Review, but the publication she is most proud of is the poem tattooed on her son’s ribcage. Her interview with Gregory Orr was published in The Drunken Boat. Her poem “Fifty-Six Days” earned a Best of the Net nomination in 2016 and her poem “Joy is not made to be a crumb” was nominated for a Pushcart Prize in 2024.