Chicago, 2009 Because he works in an office and is white and because she who tans anyway has just returned from a week at the Beach, the commuters are certain she’s not black yet they rustle in their seats. They want to see her hands flick. They want to see if rivers run dark [...]
Archive for the ‘Donal Mahoney’ Category
Mixed Couple on the Morning Train by Donal Mahoney
Posted in Donal Mahoney, tagged poetry on April 10, 2011 | Leave a Comment »
Miss Lakeishia Sings The Blues by Donal Mahoney
Posted in Donal Mahoney, tagged poetry on March 10, 2011 | Leave a Comment »
Listen, mister, you’re a guest at the Night Owl Club so you can sit here all night long, tip me after every song, buy me scotch till the final gong but none of this will help. You’ll still go home alone unless some other lady has a need to make her rent and sees the opportunity you offer. [...]
Letter to Annie Far Away by Donal Mahoney
Posted in Donal Mahoney, tagged poetry on September 6, 2010 | Leave a Comment »
Every evening, up in my room, I try to write but Chicago is hot and it’s better outside, strolling along the Lake or driving anywhere with the windows down. You sound good, if undecided about things. My life gets better no matter how hard I try to make it worse. No medicine for a month [...]
Two Poems by Donal Mahoney
Posted in Donal Mahoney, tagged poetry on June 23, 2010 | Leave a Comment »
Envelope in the Pigeonhole This evening when I return to the hotel I see in my pigeonhole Angela’s writing on a yellow envelope. What excuse will she have for not writing? Too busy, perhaps, stirring cauldrons of soup while the cats dash about licking her calves. Or don’t the cats know enough to lick at [...]
Hospital Sill by Donal Mahoney
Posted in Donal Mahoney, tagged poetry on May 18, 2010 | 3 Comments »
“On the sill today the sun’s pure white. Usually it’s gold,” says Nell, propped in a smock, all frills, sipping tea turning cold as she braids white ram horns of hair high and tight to the sides of her skull. “On the gold days like this I warm my hands for hours at a time [...]
Two Poems by Donal Mahoney
Posted in Donal Mahoney, tagged poetry on March 19, 2010 | 2 Comments »
Let Tambourines Begin Puerto Rican girl thin, thin, street lights pour bourbon on your hair, anise on your skin. Puerto Rican girl thin, thin, gin one white smile for me. Let tambourines begin __________________________ An Easter Rising Poetry by priests? Who gives it more than mock attention? We read their poems, yes, author first, then [...]
Mingle by Donal Mahoney
Posted in Donal Mahoney, tagged poetry on March 4, 2010 | 3 Comments »
Tomorrow morning when I wake it’ll be the nurse who’s crazy. I’ll heave my body up on its elbows and yell in her ear, “It’s time for your pill. Get dressed. Breakfast is ready in the Day Room. Juice, rolls, bacon, eggs. You’ll find a tray with your name on it, faces you know, a [...]
First Waitress by Donal Mahoney
Posted in Donal Mahoney, tagged poetry on December 3, 2009 | Leave a Comment »
Outside, the still of crickets. Inside, petals of a cold sore foliate, a boutonniere for full lips. Looking up, I tell her two eggs, basted, hash browns, coffee now. Later on, she says the birthmark I found south of her navel she’s had all her life.
