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Donal Mahoney

Donal Mahoney

Not as Bad as Nagasaki

Old Yoshiko in Tokyo can’t sleep
because her husband snores
so she sits in her kimono
and eats a few rice cakes
 
with a few sips of saké.
She thinks about the past
and then calls her daughter
in Chicago to remind her
 
that Truman’s bomb killed
almost all of her family.
Come home right away,
her mother tells her
 
as soon as you complete
your degree in chemistry.
Earthquakes and tsunamis
aren’t as bad as Nagasaki.
 
 
Donal Mahoney

Other works by Donal Mahoney...
A Haircut for the Yard

Herb’s wife says the grass needs cutting and Herb agrees. She says the neighbors are upset he hasn’t cut it for the last five weeks.
 1
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Pastor Homer Toots His Horn

Pastor Homer is a jealous man and Opal gives him fits through 40 years of marriage dancing, laughing kissing other men
Genocide of Pins

Beneath the bowling-alley bar marquee the rain tonight hammers off the concrete.
Leaving the Station

Each morning I step from the train and march with the others leaving the station. The weatherman’s warned of rain
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
 1
A Spider in the Sink

It’s outpatient surgery and she’s running late trying to catch a spider in the kitchen sink. Wants to carry it outside
A Bedouin’s Hope Ignites

After the doctor tells Ahmad his test results, Ahmad says he needs a new place to live. His tent’s in ruins, Ahmad says. His body will soon shake a final t…
There’s a Cliff Ahead

Sixty years ago, the two of us rode tricycles up a little hill behind our school. Nothing stopped us till
Bell and Star

Let me be a star and shine in places darkness dwells or let me be a bell and ring in places
Metastasis

I am sorry to hear the news. I lost it when I heard about hers and now to hear about yours. I’m livid at times, peaceful rarel… If you prefer, I won’t forward em…
A Couple of Joes

I’m amazed at the difference between my friend and me. His response to life is so different from mine. I live deep in the city
A Walk in the Woods

In the woods soft snow falls on the first day of spring. Two daffodils laugh. Donal Mahoney
Martha and Mel Wait for the Elevator

I died from a rattlesnake bite and found myself in line with other zombies in front of a bank of elevators, the doors opening and closing as if by metronome.
Sparrows Live Forever

He’s a chef today but Raj Patel was once a swami in another life and a mongoose twice in other lives as well. All this occurred in Bangalore
Windsor Knot

Do you remember how to tie a Windsor knot the way your father taught you on graduation day in eighth grade



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