Donal Mahoney Poems

On that train an hour ago,
I saw a teacher I had years ago
but he did not see me.
A proper man was he
...

He doesn't cry about it
anymore. No tears
in years. On occasion, though,
those who know him
...

You were a little older than three
the day your father taught you
how to pee, standing up.
...

Father Brennan had been pastor of St. Ignatius Church for 20 years, a long time for any one priest to remain at one parish. Usually the archbishop would transfer a pastor after he had served seven years. By that time, parishioners might have needed a fresh face and fresher homilies and the pastor, truth be told, might like to see a few new faces himself in the pews every Sunday morning.

That wasn't the case with Father Brennan, however. St. Ignatius was a parish in decline in terms of parishioners and he loved those who were still there, the ones who hadn't moved or passed away. There were only about 60 people left now, most of them widows and widowers as well as one nice elderly maiden who had never married, Margaret Mary Kelly, who studied early in life to become a nun but ultimately decided that life as a nun was not for her. She moved back home to care for her aging parents and did a fine job. Her father died at 84 and her mother at 81.
...

A moment ago,
in a flicker of pique,
with a wave of the hand,
I dispersed them.
...

Through the nursery glass
Carlos Montero peeks at Consuela,
his twelfth, in the arms of a nurse.
...

On their 50th anniversary
Sammy gave Dolly a necklace
and told his darling wife that
if they lived long enough
...

According to the anchor on the News at Six, Olaf Parker was shot dead at dawn this morning delivering newspapers in his van. His body was found on the front seat, a cigarette burning near his feet, when police responded to a call from a resident who heard his van crash into a utility pole.

Mr. Parker wasn't robbed. There were a few newspapers on the seat next to his body. These were the last papers he had to deliver on the final block of his route before going home to tend to his dying wife, according to his supervisor. Funeral arrangements are pending.
...

Marvin's a man who never
does anything he doesn't have to.
One day, however, to the delight
of Miriam, his wife, he became
...

Nice old Grandpa likes to yodel
whenever he recalls the boys who
beat him up in third grade.
...