Whistler Campground at Jasper National Park
By Mary Ellen Talley
rain torrents churn across the Canadian Rockies
we cook dinner under an SUV vinyl-tablecloth tarp
freeze-dried chili, cheese scones and a bottle of ale
then careful not to touch walls in the dry tent
we listen to thunder of the gods warring – sleep
sunrise we sit on red, white, and blue flag chairs
just so happens it’s Canada Day here
we’re reading after hot chocolate and banana bread
big rig RV rolling homes pull out, towing their cars
family of bikers wearing helmets pedal to a day trek
we’ll head out soon after bear proofing our campsite
watch crows and chipmunks eyeing the last marshmallow
see the axe stuck in the wood block, wet firewood
long north day – morning sun on my back
Mary Ellen Talley’s poems have most recently been published in Typoetic.us and Kaleidoscope as well as in recent anthologies, The Doll Collection, All We Can Hold: poems of motherhood and Raising Lilly Ledbetter: Women Poets Occupy the Workspace. Her poetry has received a Pushcart Nomination. She has worked for many years with words and children as a Speech-Language Pathologist (SLP) in Washington public schools.
Featured image courtesy the author.
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