Donal Mahoney Poems

Even though
we’re getting older
even rickety in some respects
...

Greed is good
said Gordon Gekko
but greed is God
...

On a hot summer day
when no one goes outside
unless they have to, I think
...

Old Herman says
from his wheelchair
in Helen’s Diner
...

Paul fell asleep early
after a hard day's work
earning a pittance.
...

We know the story about
Cecil the Lion in Zimbabwe
killed by an American dentist
...

The homeless are obvious in the city I drive into when business or a ball game requires that I make the trip. They’re napping on benches and dozing against buildings downtown, their possessions in shopping bags close by. They are by the standards of many suburbanites who drive by them an indecorous sight.

Because the homeless in the city are obvious, people with homes often complain. As a result, the homeless are “served” by various agencies that want to meet their needs and help them get off the streets.
...

Compassion is important
but it won’t feed the hungry
or house the homeless.
...

Perhaps there should be a hard rock band called myasthenia gravis. A rare disease for which there is no cure, MG doesn't kill anyone right away but unmanaged it’s hard to live with. In time, it can affect the lungs, breathing, and can become a medical emergency requiring hospital treatment. Untreated, it can be fatal for the rich and poor alike, but especially for the poor without insurance who can’t afford medication that can stabilize it. It’s even worse for the poor who live in a state without Medicaid or a version of the program with limited coverage.

Sometimes MG begins with the victim unable to keep food in his mouth. It can become difficult to chew, even bite through a slice of cucumber. Eventually it can become difficult to swallow. It can also become difficult to keep liquids from seeping through a closed mouth, no matter how hard the lips are sealed.
...

After World War II, I grew up in a neighborhood where most people made it but some did not. I don’t recall social services being available then but they may have been. It’s possible adults may have chosen not to access them or perhaps did so very quietly, without telling neighbors and other family members.

Many of the same problems we have with us today were present then but they didn’t have names such as Attention Deficit Disorder or Hyperkinesis. Families dealt with problems, for better or worse, unless they became so severe “authorities” had to be called in. The police would usually be the first authority to arrive and would take certain individuals away. But in cases not involving the law, fairly often the individual—adult or juvenile—simply disappeared and was not seen again. No explanation was given.
...