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Night and Day He Was the One
by
Donal Mahoney


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There’s a glorious sound system now
in the restored train depot where recruits 
from all over the nation once took a  
train to Camp Breckinridge before 
taking a plane to Korea.

A fellow who came back from Korea 
stopped in at the depot on one leg
recently for a moment of nostalgia.
A burger and fries cost him 20 bucks, 
up from the two bucks he paid in '51.
And the music was not quite the same.

A waiter in a bow tie and derby said  
they still had the old juke box,
the big Wurlitzer, in the basement
under a sheet or a shroud.
Plug it in and give it a quarter
and he said old Frank would sing.

 

© by Donal Mahoney.
Used with the author's permission.

 

 

 


Donal Mahoney (1938 - 2017), the son of Irish immigrants, grew up in Chicago, Illinois. He later lived in St. Louis, Missouri. Donal spent the early ‘70s actively submitting poems to print journals and enjoyed some success. He then took a 35-year hiatus from poetry to work as an editor of prose at such lofty establishments as the Chicago Sun-Times, Loyola University Press, and Washington University in St. Louis. Upon retirement, Donal took to his recliner, and was perfectly happy reading and listening to Gregorian chant all day. After three years, however, his wife bought Donal a computer and showed him where the boxes of still-unpublished poems had been stored in the basement for many years. Thus Donal began actively submitting again in June 2008. See more of his work at http://booksonblog12.blogspot.com/.

 

 

 


Post New Comment:
Jancan:
I wish this one had been LONGER. I really like this poem! Janice
Posted 12/30/2016 05:37 PM
Lori Levy:
Simply expressed, but powerful.
Posted 12/30/2016 10:43 AM
blueskies:
Feeling the nostalgia deeply.Thanks Donal. Well done.
Posted 12/30/2016 08:49 AM


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