Fifty Years Ago Today Poem by Donal Mahoney

Yes, fifty years ago today
it happened. Quite a story.
He was your favorite uncle
and he liked you a lot too.
You were all torn up.
You were just a kid.
No one wanted to tell you.
You might have been
the one person he liked.

He drove your aunt crazy,
their kids as well.
He hated the rich and
hated the poor and
everyone in between.
Nasty to everyone
except you as a child.

You can't be that way
when you're a teller
in a farm town bank.
He wouldn't have
had a job if your
grandfather hadn't
owned the bank.

He'd sass farmers
and they'd complain
but there he'd be
cashing checks
and counting money
again the next day.

He should have
listened to that guy
at the window
when he whispered
put all the money
in the paper bag.
Everyone saw the gun.
Wrong guy to sass
fifty years ago today.