Friday, August 26, 2016

The latest post of Donal Mahoney poem

People Who Live Above Stores


It's two in the morning 
and people who live above stores
have sprung from their beds
this cold winter night.
They're leaning out of their windows
and bellowing into the street

at the deaf baker who launched the alarm
in the Rogers Park Donut Shoppe.
It's been ringing for hours 
and the police haven't come.
Not even the firemen.
The donuts will never get done

and it appears now that 
people who live above stores
will remain in a rage
leaning out of their windows
waving cigarettes like strobes
and bellowing the rest of the night.


Donal Mahoney

Fwd: Fourth Friday Readings - August 26


FOURTH FRIDAY READINGS

Friday, August 26, 2016 – 6:30 pm

At The Lodge (Media Room)

660 Evergreen Farm Way (off 5th Avenue), Sequim

AN ENTIRE EVENING of

5-MINUTE OPEN MIC READINGS

Bring poems, short-short stories or memoir/novel snippets.

Rehearse in advance, Reading are timed.

Sign in to Read

Guidelines available.  Heidi@olypen.com

Arrive early for snack and coffee at The Espresso bistro

Sponsored by Writers on the Spit

Wednesday, August 10, 2016

A Poem by Donal Mahoney

Lifts Her Like A Chalice

The weekday Mass at 6 a.m.
brings the old folks out 
from bungalows 
around the church.
They move like caterpillars  
down sidewalks, 
some with canes, 
some on walkers. 

Father Doyle says the Mass 
and then goes back to the rectory 
to care for his mother 
who cannot move or speak 
because of a stroke.

And every Sunday at noon 
when the church is full, 
Father Doyle, in full vestments, 
wheels his mother
in a lump
down the middle aisle
and lifts her like a chalice 
and places her in the front pew  
before he ascends to the altar.

Sometimes at night,
when his mother's asleep, 
Father Doyle comes back to the Church 
and rehearses in the dark 
three hymns she long ago 
asked him to sing at her funeral.

He practices the hymns 
because the doctor said  
she could go at any time.
When that time comes,
he doesn't want to miss a note.
The last thing she ever said was 
"Son, I'll be listening." 


Donal Mahoney
for background on Donal.
 https://fifthcoffee.blogspot.com/search?q=Donal+Mahoney

Watch for more of Donal's poems to come.