A Matter Of Beans Poem by Donal Mahoney

It's a matter of beans,
says Rosie,79, legally blind,
her fingers dancing across
a Bible in braille, when a
reporter asks her about

politicians who haven't passed
a budget and Meals on Wheels has
has been suspended so Rosie
no longer gets one hot meal a day
delivered by a volunteer who chats
before driving off to serve another

worse off than I am, says Rosie.
It's a matter of beans, she says,
dried beans I keep in a drawer
and cook up in a pot and will eat
today, tomorrow and the next day

with hot sauce if I have some.
Then I'll cook up another pot
and make them stretch, she says,
until they pass that budget.
They always do, she says.
They want to go on vacation.