The Durable Mick Malloy a True Story

In Jan, nineteen thirty-three, there was man called Mick Malloy
At the time he was an alcoholic and a poor homeless boy.
A young Irish fire-fighter out of work
He left his home in Donegal - to find some in New York.

He fell in with five real bad men
Who wanted to cause murder back then.
Poor Mick they had him in their sights
An insurance fraud, they brought to light.

They signed three life policies on Mick
Now they had to kill him quick.
Unlimited credit in a speakeasy, they gave him
To drink himself to death-they went out on a limb.

Although he drank all day long
His life it just seemed to prolong
They switched to antifreeze instead
Expecting Mick to wake up dead.

With turpentine they then did tempt
But no success, so they switched to horse liniment.
Finally a drink of rat poison, they gave the poor lad
But Mick never ever seemed to get bad.

They tried oysters, then methanol. 
Bad sardines, poison and carpet tacks
But poor old  Mick swallowed the lot,
And still poor Mick kept coming back.

The five would be murderers were baffled
Poor Mick just would not die
The murder trust then knew,
 something else they would have to try.

One night poor Mick unconscious, they stripped him and carried him out
In minus fourteen degrees,naked, not wearing a single clout.
Threw five gallons of water on him, to make sure that he would freeze
Poor Mick returned the next without even a cough or sneeze.
 

Mick returned the next day to order himself a drink
The men were getting desperate they really had to think.
Next they hit him with a taxi and broke lots of poor Mick’s bones
But he had three weeks in hospital, then they sent him home.

The gang had thought that Mick was dead 
But when they tried to claim, poor Mick returned once more
 And kept on his drinking game.
In desperation in February, in fact on the twenty second
They waited for Mick to collapse, then gassed him in a second
A pipe they pushed into his throat and now poor Mick was gone.
The gang did not win even then, no not a single one.

They squabbled and were caught and to Sing Sing them they did send
Four to be fried on the electric chair what a sizzling end
The fifth was sent to prison, which didn’t seem quite fair.
He somehow managed to escape, Sing Sings electric chair
Poor Mick Malloy has been long gone, but will not be forgotten
Just remember to watch your friends though; you never know who’s rotten.

Copyright © | Year Posted 2011



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Date: 3/5/2013 3:24:00 PM
Hey Golden Girl, thought i'd read all your oldies,, then i find this gem.. and just love it too...
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Date: 12/8/2012 1:48:00 PM
Dear Mandy, I bow to YOUR Laureatus POETRY. I am YOUR captive YOUR Words echo in my mind days after reading YOUR POETIC Genius LOVE YOU ALWAYS and FOREVER YOUR Eternal (Young) Liege...Harry
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Date: 12/17/2011 8:40:00 AM
Wow, what a story. Thanks for telling it to me.
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Tams The Golden Girl Avatar
Mandy Tams The Golden Girl
Date: 12/17/2011 9:22:00 AM
you said you liked history x
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