Donal Mahoney - Ms. Editor Savaged by Mr. Author / At Bus Stops on Thanksgiving Day

Ms. Editor Savaged by Mr. Author

It is a different society now. 

Less respect for people at either end 

and folks in the middle as well.

People no longer are treated like linen.

Too often like Kleenex used and tossed.

Since it’s a man who’s sending those emails,

don't bother taking any offense.

We men are often not too nice to women 

standing up although we can be sweet 

as honey when wanting them supine. 

You have a fine magazine but need  

thicker armor over your sensibilities. 

In my world, you’re young and while

I’d never applaud the benefits of age, 

it has at least one that’s valuable.

When you’re near the top of the hill 

it's easier to laugh at the louts below

whizzing darts past your keister.

At Bus Stops on Thanksgiving Day

Before dawn, people

who work on Thanksgiving Day  

wait in the wind for a bus 

to arrive or maybe not.

It's too cold to talk  

so the people stand 

like minutemen and plan 

a revolution that would shock  

nice families who drive by later, 

children tucked in scarves 

and mittens, laughing 

all the way to Nana's house  

for turkey, gravy, stuffing 

and later in the day 

a ballerina of whipped cream 

twirling on pumpkin pie.

Thanksgiving is the day 

America asks for seconds

and sorts its servers 

from the served.

Donal Mahoney, a native of Chicago, lives in St. Louis, Missouri. His fiction and poetry have appeared in various publications, including The Wisconsin Review, The Kansas Quarterly, The South Carolina Review, The Christian Science Monitor, The Chicago Tribune and  Commonweal.  Some of his work can be found at http://eyeonlifemag.com/the-poetry-locksmith/donal-mahoney-poet.html#sthash.OSYzpgmQ.dpbs=