Bachelor's Song
When will you understand
it's all about me.
The world we live in
whirls around my axis.
Once you understand
I am the Sun
we can get married.
Until that happens,
step aside while I
hunt for the one
who truly understands
it's all about me,
the one who knows
the world we live in
whirls around my axis.
She must be pretty.
That's how I see it.
Take it from me.
Firstborn
Born at the foot
of the mountain
what will you do?
You have time to decide
but some die young.
Others live but remain
at the foot of the mountain
where wind like snow
blows them around.
So what will you do?
Go 'round the mountain?
Fly over the mountain?
Or climb the mountain,
hand over hand,
with fingers and toes
tucked in clefts,
stopping only for water,
then going on.
Millions are now
on the side
of the mountain
halfway up
with grappling hooks
and the finest gear.
So what will you do?
Parents can pray but
God only knows.
Postpartum Depression
A wound like that
doesn't leave a scar
because it never heals.
Fifty years ago
the doctors didn't
have a name for it
but that's no help
to Jimmy now.
Ginny's dead
and their six kids
have children of their own,
some of them in college.
The doctors know
how to treat it now.
They tell mothers
what to watch for
after giving birth.
They tell fathers, too,
but that's no help
to Jimmy
in his wheel chair
sitting in the lobby
of the nursing home
watching silent
movies of his life
flicker through his mind.
A rerun every day.
He can't even
speak about it
since the stroke.
A wound like that
doesn't leave a scar
because it never heals.
------------------------------
Donal Mahoney lives in St. Louis, Missouri.
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