Donal Mahoney Poet Blank verse

Vowel Movement

When a writer lacks 
verbs and nouns 
he's the victim of 
writer's block. 
His mind may house 
too many consonants, 
too few vowels. 

Without vowels, 
his consonants congeal
and become a mass. 
The result is
verbal constipation.
The only cure,
some doctors say,
is a very big 

vowel movement, 
larger than a loaf 
of pumpernickel 
or a Seinfeld 
marble rye.
Some writers, 
desperate for  

a very big
vowel movement, 
try dynamite. 
Not good.
Other writers tout 
Agent Orange,
Monsanto's legacy
in Vietnam 
dropped off
half a century ago.

But Agent Orange
is not the answer 
for writer's block.
It melts a writer 
slowly and melts
as well
generations of 
his descendants
as it has for years  
In Vietnam where

the great-grandchildren 
of innocent farmers
whose crops 
were sprayed
with Agent Orange 
are born deformed.
They are the new lepers 
from Monsanto,
not from Molokai.

On the streets 
the children startle tourists
from Boston and New York
who are munching on 
delightful spring rolls
dipped in lovely sauces
at outdoor cafe tables
under big umbrellas
that ward off 
the burning 
noonday sun. 


Donal Mahoney

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