Donal Mahoney- A Poem

A New Yo-Yo on Christmas Day

I took grandson Jack

for a walk in the park

high noon on Christmas Day.

He wanted to see 

his yo-yo dance

but his parents said

no yo-yo tricks

in a crowded house

with a Christmas tree.

So after Mass

they wrapped Jack up 

in a snowsuit worn

by the Michelin Man

when he was a child.

And Jack and I 

strolled off, laughing 

through the snow.

The park was empty 

when I showed Jack 

yo-yo tricks I’d learned

many decades ago.

I told him he would

soon be tall enough 

to do these tricks

on his own.

Jack laughed and asked

if we could come back

to the park that night

and watch the comets.

I asked him why. 

That’s when I learned 

comets are yo-yos and 

God swings their strings

on the other side

of the moon.

 

 

Donal Mahoney lives in St. Louis, Missouri.