Donal Mahoney Poet Blank verse

One Old Gigolo Counsels Another

You take care now, Harold, 
and don't slip on the ice
looking for a good bookstore
on the streets of Chicago.

Print is dead, Harold,
and it's being waked 
in empty bookstores.
Soon all bookstores

will be dead, Harold,
and then you will have 
no good reason 
to go out on the ice. 

At our age, Harold,
ice can be lethal
so take my advice
and do as I do:

Walk head down  
even if there's no ice 
so you can avoid 
not only the ice 

but also the women 
disgruntled with men.
Believe me, Harold, 
they're out there 

armed with bumbershoots.
They prowl the streets now 
more than when we were 
young and dashing 

and making them angry.
They haven't forgotten us.
So for God's sake, Harold,
go out for a walk but

bundle up and take your cane 
and walk with your head down.
Do you believe in God, Harold? 
I hope you do because 

at our age, Harold, ice or a 
woman could be the chariot 
that takes us over the moon
faster than we'd like.

Donal Mahoney

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