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Donal Mahoney

Donal Mahoney

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.
 
Donal Mahoney

Altre opere di Donal Mahoney...
Within and Without

Evil without we worry about but not so much evil within, parent to evil without. Evil within, once called sin,
Entrepreneur Jailed

There’s a moral to this story. Police in St. Louis have arrested a teen for felony auto theft. They asked her why she did it. She said the owners didn’t
Bullets without a Gun

Jimmy was visiting his father when Mr. Crenshaw called to say Mrs. Bittles had died the night before of a sudden heart attack.
A Nuclear Childhood

What if your parents had never met had never married had never yelled at each other
Peace for Me Now

On the table by the window balanced on its spine this leaflet butterfly open and still as a
An Askew Life

On a clear day in the day room he will tell anyone he has had an askew life. When he was a small boy out for a Sunday walk
A Gray Day

A gray summer day the sun is on vacation sunflowers hang their heads Donal Mahoney
Norma Jeane at a Bus Stop, 1943

Her corded belt python tight around a tiny waist makes her blooms bigger brighter as they unfold
Memories

If one could store them in the attic without stir and turn to other things, to picking fruit, perhaps, or seeding it, one could afford
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Sunday in the City

A lovely neighborhood this Sunday afternoon is rocked again by random gunshots. The shots make Bertha wonder, as she sips tea in her old rocker,
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 1
Long Red Leash

The scruffy old man and his white poodle on a long red leash were neighborhood icons years ago down at the corner
I Traded Ethel for Tiffany

I know very little about computers but I use one for basic needs. Poems, stories, not much more. Like some nice women I’ve known, I’ve discovered computers
Priest and Prostitute

The old priest who won’t retire despite his bishop’s hints rides his bike around the parish every day for exercise. He waves and smiles at everyone
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Baton Rouge, St. Paul, Dallas

Years ago Rodney King, after his beating in LA, softly asked America, “People, can we all just get along? Can we stop
How They Do It in Syria Today

First, we place the neck on the bl… and put the basket underneath the head and then make sure the bl… is sharp enough before we ask the… one more time just to be polite:



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