Monday, June 24, 2013

Donal Mahoney- A Poem

Waiting for Answers to Resumes Mailed Weeks Ago


A phone call from anywhere would be nice,
even a call from that clerk at Sears
with an apology for charging that dryer
to my last employer
or even a call from the company I phoned
for estimates on the fence we need
to run to the alley, take two lefts,
and dash back to the house,
the fence we hope will keep the kids
from threshing the neighbor's 
lilacs and phlox
or even a call from my wife
about the fever Meg had this morning
and a third reminder to record
the check for the penicillin.
Yes, today or tomorrow,
a phone call from anywhere would be nice.



--------------------------------------------------------
This poem first appeared in Salt Lick Magazine,
a print publication, in 1971. The author wrote it
when he was out of work and had five children 
to feed. The scars of unemployment are difficult
to erase.

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