Donal Mahoney - Lemon Underwear

The New Morse Hotel

Chicago, circa 1970

What if after Browne has gone

one of us discovers who Browne was,

leads the rally to his room before

the maid has time to broom the webs,

retrieve from underneath the bed

the sweat-stiff socks, the lemon underwear?

What if before he leaves Browne scrawls

across the dresser’s dust: “I have leased

new quarters and have gone to them.

Don’t give the clothes you find here to the poor.

Don’t burn the books. Beware the next

who rents this room, who leaves it only after dark,

who screams if the maid knocks once

to ask if she may clean. When he arrives

have four men bear him, belly down, downstairs.

Tell them: 'Pitch him out across the lawn!

Let him land in a lake of sun.

Let him drown there.' ”

Nominated for Best of the Net and Pushcart prizes, Donal Mahoney has had work published in various publications in North America, Europe, Asia and Africa.  Some of his earliest work can be found at http://booksonblog12.blogspot.com/.