And It’s Not His Fault
Deep in the city
where the poor wait
for the Second Coming
suicide is uncommon.
No one leaps off skyscrapers
because hovels are short.
But many poor die young.
Some sit in the kitchen
next to an empty fridge
until their stomachs
stop growling and
they fall on the floor.
Others sit on the porch
when the weather’s nice
until a drive-by shooting
kills their hunger.
The only one with money
in the neighborhood
is the undertaker.
And it’s not his fault.
Donal Mahoney
A Debate Before the Debate
A woman was seated next to me
as we waited for the debate to start.
The candidates were late taking the stage.
She said she shouldn't have come
because she couldn’t vote for either man.
Neither of them, she said, believes
men and women are equal.
She asked what did I, as a man, think.
Are the sexes equal or not?
I gripped the armrests and said men
and women are equal but different
just as dogs and cats are different
but I meant no comparison.
I could tell she was not impressed
with my response. Then she asked
how I thought men and women
were different and I said I thought
a woman would do almost
anything for love and man
almost anything for sex,
present company excluded.
Her mouth fell open.
I could tell she was ready
to set me straight but when
the candidates came on stage,
I thought I heard an Abyssinian meow
while I stifled a Great Dane bark.
Donal Mahoney
Blind Artist
The blind artist paints life
as he wants it to be
a tranquil sky
a big sun smiling
everyone laughing.
He hangs his paintings
on the walls of his mind
and the gallery is open.
No visitors yet but
admission is free.
Donal Mahoney
An Unusual Woman Not So Unusual
Linda's on TV this morning
being interviewed by
someone who specializes in
interviewing unusual people.
Linda’s a smart woman but
her story isn’t that unusual.
There are more like Linda than
folks would like to think.
She’s in love with a man
in prison for life for a murder
he says he didn’t commit.
Linda was his pen pal till
she flew out to see him
on a two-week vacation.
It was love at first sight.
She has two degrees
and makes a good living
but until now she has not
met the right man.
She sends her man books
and magazines
and he calls her collect
twice a week and talks
for an hour or more.
Linda wishes he had
a chance to be paroled
but that’s not the case.
He says his attorneys
are filing an appeal.
Linda's brother says
if she had met this man
in a cafe at work she
might have walked away.
Who knows, either way,
but he’s locked up for life
and hasn't hurt her the way
other men have so often.
Linda tells the interviewer
with a shy smile she knows
this man is hers for life.
A collect call from him
is better than a hug
from any other man.
Donal Mahoney
Always the Salesman
On the road all week
finally it’s Friday
and he’s almost home
so he calls his wife
and says it will be
about an hour
and she says
you must be hungry
what can I fix
and he says
nothing fancy
a nightgown will do
Donal Mahoney
The police have announced
the arrest of an ecumenical fellow
who in less than two weeks
in the middle of the night set fire
to seven churches in St. Louis.
Baptist, Catholic, Lutheran,
Pentecostal—if they hadn’t
caught the man, he might still
be incensing the skies.
An accelerant-sniffing dog
and a video camera led to his arrest.
Charges were quickly filed.
The first six churches are black
congregations. The seventh
is largely white but some thought
it was burned to distract the cops
because of the location of the churches.
Some media suggested a racial component.
The cops said that although no motive
has been established, no hate crime
in this strange case has occurred.
The culprit is black but apparently hate's
not required to burn Christian churches
if no synagogue or mosque is involved.
Donal Mahoney
