An Unfortunate Remark

The old couple sits in recliners

after dinner the way old couples do

and she tells him what she saw

in the yard that first warm day

and it’s crocuses  and daffodils 

no tulips yet but she knows 

tulips will pop any day 

and he listens because there 

might be a quiz but then

she sees the gun in his lap 

and she asks why it’s there

and he says it’s in case 

she repeats the remark 

she made the night before 

because this time he’ll shoot 

the words out of the air 

quicker than a pheasant

in hunting season and 

blood will splatter 

on the ceiling and walls 

because this time she won't 

put a hole in his heart as she 

did last night and maybe 

the two of them can return 

to who they were before 

she spoke and he survived,

hanging on to life.

Donal Mahoney