Donal Mahoney- Three Poems

Leprechauns in Pop's Fedora

For years leprechauns lived 

under Pop’s fedora.

They danced jigs on his head

when he wore it

and hid in his ears

when he took it off

to scratch his head 

then jumped back up 

to dance a few reels

when he took it off 

for another good scratch.

Leprechauns dancing 

confused my mother.

She thought Pops

had ringworm or lice

and should see a doctor.

The attendant said no 

ringworm or lice but said 

Pop might look odd 

wearing a hat in his coffin.

Thoughts While Waiting in the ER

You thought you knew her.

She thought she knew you.

Neither was true

but this happens at times

at Happy Hour on Fridays

after a long week of work.

The rapport was strong.

Amazing, you thought.

She might be someone

you’d see more than once.

She had a nice apartment

or maybe it was a condo

a big double bed

with a canopy yet.

You slept soundly until

the key in the door

and from the other pillow

you heard a whisper,

“He’s not expected

until late next week.”

In the Mood

We're going dancing, my wife and I, 

to a Charity Ball high in the sky where

Glenn Miller's band has been playing 

since 1944, the year his plane got lost 

over the English Channel.

No wreckage was ever found,

not a single body.

Glenn Miller was going to France 

to play for American troops 

during World War II.

Government records say 

he's still "missing in action."

Maybe so, but I hate to go dancing, 

even with music by Glenn Miller.

So I told my wife I'll go if she

can find a dress as red

as the one she wore in 1956 

when Father Hennessy said,  

"This is a prom. Not burlesque."

A slip of a girl back then,

she made things worse 

with black seamed nylons.

All the rage back then, the nylons  

disturbed the padre.

But if my wife can find a bright red dress

and a pair of black seamed nylons,

I'll wear the old seersucker suit

I bought at Macy's for the prom. 

It goes real well with the "duck tie"

I found "on sale" for 50 cents  

at the Army Surplus store.

Father Hennessy loved that tie.

Even now I can hear him bellow,

"That tie's so wide the ducks 

will fly for 50 years to cross it."

How prescient the padre was. 

 

Donal Mahoney lives in St. Louis, Missouri.