At Bus Stops on Thanksgiving Day
Before dawn, people
who work on Thanksgiving Day
wait in the wind for a bus
to arrive or maybe not.
It's too cold to talk
so the people stand
like minutemen and plan
a revolution that would shock
nice families who drive by later,
children tucked in scarves
and mittens, laughing
all the way to Nana's house
for turkey, gravy, stuffing
and later in the day
a ballerina of whipped cream
twirling on pumpkin pie.
Thanksgiving is the day
America asks for seconds
and sorts its servers
from the served.
Donal Mahoney
First Waitress
Outside, the still
of crickets.
Inside, petals
of a cold sore
foliate,
a boutonniere
for full lips.
Looking up, I tell her
two eggs, basted,
hash browns,
coffee now.
Later on,
she says
the birthmark
I found
south of her navel
she’s had
all her life.
Donal Mahoney
Concert at Bernie’s
When Bernie wakes at 6 a.m.
there's a piano on his chest
and Erroll Garner's playing "Misty."
Sinatra's on the headboard
improvising lyrics
and Krupa's in the corner
painting on the drums.
The music is magnificent.
Once the song is over
Bernie chants his morning prayers,
shaves and showers and limps to work
for another day at the gherkin factory.
The foreman, Mr. Simpkins, is an ogre
nonpareil, a sumbitch unsurpassed,
who stalks the catwalk all day long
with megaphone and stopwatch.
At 5 p.m. the factory spits Bernie
and his cohorts out the door
so Bernie limps to the Hot Wok Shack
and buys a carton of Egg Fu Yung
and heads back home to wait for dawn
so he can hear Erroll play "Night and Day"
while Sinatra does the vocal and
Krupa punctuates the piece
softly on the drums.
Bernie spends each day in hell but dawn
is always a concert from heaven.
Donal Mahoney
Epilogue for an Election
After the TV mavens had their say
the gnomes crept out of their caves
spoke and returned to their caves.
Thunder struck, hell broke loose
and the mavens came back on TV
predicting Armageddon.
In cities all over the nation
pimples popped and broke.
Pus flows in the streets.
Donal Mahoney
Making Certain It’s Wally
Wally made the long drive home
from vacation on Election Day
because he wanted to vote.
He went for a jog and then to the polls
and cast his vote for his candidate.
Then he jogged to the Post Office
to pick up the mail held for him
while he was away on vacation.
But they wouldn’t give him his mail.
He had no I.D. in his sweat pants.
Not to worry, Wally told the clerk.
He'd come back with his I.D. later.
Donal Mahoney
A Comma Is a Pipe Dream
The amount in every paycheck
has a period in it. Those who
get a paycheck every week
dream about seeing a comma
three spaces in front of the period.
Those who have a comma
dream about seeing a 2
in front of the comma
instead of a 1.
Those who have a 2
in front of the comma
dream about a 3.
That’s how it works for those
with good jobs and benefits
but not for those on
minimum wage.
Many of them see only
three numbers in front
of the period every week.
The first number is always a 3
after taxes and deductions.
If a 4 or 5 would replace the 3
they might celebrate a tad
and give a little shout.
But they will never see a comma
three spaces ahead of the period.
That’s a pipe dream not theirs to see.
Donal Mahoney
