PrintPoem – Morning Coffee Can Be So Important (By Donal Mahoney)
A tragedy happened to Willie
and Millie after years of marriage.
All their kids were doing well
and had nice families of their own
but tragedy struck one dawn before
Willie had had his morning coffee.
Millie was on her third cup and Willie
said Millie looked at him the wrong way
and Willie asked, “What’s that look
all about, Millie, what did I do now?”
Millie had no idea what Willie
was talking about since she
hadn’t looked at him in any way
different than she usually did.
Maybe she was stifling a sneeze.
It didn’t help when Millie advised
Willie to drink plenty of coffee
and they would talk it over then.
Willie said he had had enough
and he was leaving forever.
He packed his old satchel
and moved to a geriatric hotel
and sent Millie a letter telling her
to file for divorce or he would file
to make certain she would never
look at him the same way again.
He said he had done nothing
to warrant so viperous a look
and their marriage was kaput.
Millie wouldn’t file for divorce
but Willie filed and they split.
Now Millie lives in the big house
and Willie in the old hotel where
he’s delighted to know that Millie
will never get another chance to
sink her fangs like a viper again.
Author Bio:
Donal Mahoney lives in St. Louis, Missouri. He has had fiction and poetry published in various publications in the U.S. and elsewhere. Among them are The Galway Review (Ireland), The Recusant (England), The Missing Slate (Pakistan), Guwahatian Magazine (india), Bluepepper (Australia), The Osprey Journal (Wales), Public Republic (Bulgaria), and The Istanbul Literary Review (Turkey). Some of his earliest work can be found at http://booksonblog12.blogspot.com and some of his newer work at https://www.antarcticajournal.com/donal-mahoney-recent-works