If the greatest of these is charity
then tell me again
why it’s gauche
if this young man
in a booth at a bar
dives under the skirt
of that old woman
smiling across from him,
spears what he’s after,
drives home in his Jaguar
through jackhammer rain
and flies with her
through the windshield
making a turn.
Will they not
reign forever
as two appliqués
on a viaduct wall,
their Rorschachs bright red,
whatever their ages?
Donal Mahoney