Dirty Joke(For Miss S) Poem by Dónall Dempsey

The wind
in a loud guffaw

tells the wind chimes
a dirty joke

and the wind chimes
polite to the last

try not to laugh

but first one & then...they can’t
suppress a little tinkle

a titter of laughter

even the little bell
above the door

joins in
with a musical chuckle

but when I step out
onto the balcony

I find
they have managed to control themselves

and all is quiet.

Yet when I turn to go back in
they all snigger behind my back.

Even the flowers in the corner
have to laugh

so I laugh too
not even knowing

what the joke was all about.

*******

DIT DE DAH DIT (for Scarlett)

I’m learning Morse Code
from Corporal Acting Sargent Byrne.

Cpl/Sgt. Dots & Dashes
we call him for fun.

He dit de dit dahs at me.

Enquires of me...what he has sent.

I consult my notepad
as if it was an oracle

The furious dots
dashing across the page.

“I think it says...I guess...? ”

“Enemy at...? ”
“Send something something something or other! ”

“Asp! ”
Yes... I get the asp.

He snorts like a horse
I almost expect him to eat hay and say neigh.

I suddenly realising
that if they were depending on me

we would all be dead
or surrounded and surrendering.

Realising too that Morse Code may not be
my forte!

*******

DEAR GOD IF...? (for Lyn)

“Dear God if...

You are
invisible

try to be fair
and let us see you too.”

Listen to my little sister
tell her prayers

to the dark

as if it were a
real live God.

Yeah, God
that goes for me too!

But the dark
like God
doesn’t listen.

I look in
a moment later

and she is
sleeping.

I wonder what
she is

dreaming.