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.