Mike Was Never a Stanley
Mike’s old now.
His mind is somewhere
in the Fifties.
Every few weeks
one of his kids takes
Mike and his recliner
to another place
to live with a different
son or daughter.
He has 11 kids,
all with families,
none of them rich.
They feed him well
and take him to the doctor
but pills don’t help.
When they talk to him,
he sometimes answers,
especially when asked
what’s your name, Dad.
He shouts Stanley but
Stanley was his father’s name.
His father was a fireman who
worked 24 hours, had 48 off
and never met a man he liked.
He whipped Mike as a child
with his fireman’s belt for faults
his mother could not recall
but she was quiet like Mike.
His father would tell Mike
not to cry during a whipping
because only girls cry.
When Mike cried at times
Stanley would thrash him again.
Mike’s kids will tell you, though,
their father was never a Stanley.
Donal Mahoney
