Neptune’s Fountain

By Mary Ellen Talley

PROMPT—Never will I forget ...

We don’t even have photos to remember

that evening, us just out of college,

having gifted ourselves

with a five-country tour of Europe,

as we stopped in Madrid,

enthralled to see the Prado,

toss a coin in Neptune’s Fountain,

and dine at sidewalk cafés. One evening,

two students heard our American accents,

invited us to their apartment

near the plaza. As I recall,

there were wooden floors,

colored tiles surrounding a shared patio,

and the evening scent of flowers.

Franco was still in power.

But they never said his name.

We spoke symbolic of the eagle

on their flag. Although its banner

heralded “Grande y Libre,”

fear fluttered in the air.

They shuttered all the windows,

turned a radio on to mask our voices,

and guided us not to speak against the walls

as they asked about America

and we spoke in bits of Spanish and English.

They had LPs of our pop music,

knew of Nixon’s Watergate and Gerald Ford.

I’ll never forget feeling privileged

to be free, and confident

that we would always be so lucky,

although the words luck and privileged,

I’ve come to realize, are tentative, partial,

and can be temporary

as a gelato melting on a warm day.

Back then, I wondered how Franco

could have gotten into power.

Now, those students

are my age again.

They know that talons

of power can snatch a chick

in a thicket

or a fish being filleted for a family.

Do they wonder

how my freedoms are faring now?

Do they wonder

if I am protesting

and what my signs say?

---

Mary Ellen Talley’s poems have appeared in many journals including Louisville Review, Deep Wild, and Trampoline, as well as in multiple anthologies. Her chapbooks are: Postcards from the Lilac City from Finishing Line Press, Taking Leave from Kelsay Books, and Infusion online at Red Wolf Journal. She resides in Seattle, WA and worked for many years as a school-based speech/language pathologist (SLP.) Her website is maryellentalley.com