Chicken Bone Stuck Poem by Donal Mahoney

We’ve been married 40 years
and we eat dinner together
every night, Maisie,

except when I'm out
of town on business.
That can’t be helped

with bills and a mortgage.
But never in 40 years till
the other night did I ever

hear you say something
that stuck in my throat
like a chicken bone.

That bone is still there
and I feel it whenever we
eat dinner but never

at lunch eating alone.
So after dinner tonight
I’m packing my bags

and going to a hotel.
We can have dinner at
the diner sometime

and if the bone's not
stuck in my throat we
can kiss and make up,

provided you admit
the hairs in my nose
aren't crabgrass.