Donal Mahoney - The Canyon Dwellers / Yowling

The Canyon Dwellers

There’s this canyon 

between two cliffs

and Tim Boyd has a foot

planted on each cliff.

He’s spread-eagled 

but very steady.

He's been stretched

over the canyon since 

he got back from Iraq.

After he took his position,

he thought someone 

would eventually look up.

There are others

spread over the canyon

in front of Tim. 

They’ve been there

since Viet Nam and

getting a bit wobbly.

In back of Tim

are the new arrivals

spread-eagled as well.

They’re fresh from

Afghanistan and they're

getting their feet set. 

The rest of us below

have jobs and are busy

with families and lives. 

When a canyon dweller falls 

and makes a terrible mess, 

we find the time to look up.

Yowling

Ed's wife found a sinkhole

in the yard a year ago

a foot wide, several feet deep

and she wanted it filled.

No problem said Ed.

The sinkhole is hidden 

behind a big bush 

next to their garage.  

Sometimes a feral cat, 

good as its eyes may be,

falls into the hole at night,

never to come out.

The yowling can go on

longer than a week.

Neighbors around 

Ed’s stockade fence 

ask where the yowling

is coming from and Ed 

asks them if they

have a cat in heat.

They always say no

and the questions stop.

Meanwhile, feral cats, 

once a plague in Ed's yard,

no longer crouch

in the foliage and leap 

to pluck robins and 

cardinals out of the air.

Birds can worship now

at Ed’s suet and feeders, 

wipe their beaks in peace,

serenaded at times

by the yowling.

Donal Mahoney lives in St. Louis, Missouri. He writes poetry and fiction. Some of his earliest work can be found at http://booksonblog12.blogspot.com