Saturday, May 24, 2014

Donal Mahoney- Three Poems

Mom and Pop

They got along fine lying down 
but sitting up or standing, well 
that was quite another thing.

Talking made things worse.
Lying down they found 
no words necessary. 

Had she been deaf 
or he been mute, they would 
celebrate next week

their Golden Anniversary.
Five kids would be there,
born in less than seven years.

Last Saturday, at the wedding 
of a grandchild, they knew
they got along fine lying down.



Metaphorically Speaking

Dive under any 
skirt that floats 
your way, Amish 
or otherwise,
metaphorically speaking.
Be an explorer.

Sail every sea until
you find the eddy 
you want to swirl in
the rest of your life.
Then stake your claim. 
Make it your own. 



Listen to the Muse

Never engage
in conversation
a man with a beard
down to his testicles  
talking to himself
under a viaduct
at midnight 

if all the bulbs
under the viaduct
have been shot out.
Take notes instead
on what he's saying
provided he speaks 
in iambic pentameter.

Take those notes home
and sit next to a candle
at the kitchen table
and weave a sonnet
and send it out 
to every magazine
you can find

and then go back
under the viaduct and 
take more notes and
sit next to the candle
at the kitchen table.
Weave another sonnet.
Pray he talks forever.

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