Venus Calling Mars at Midnight
Millie calls the hotel at midnight
to tell Willie he didn’t do anything wrong.
It’s the way he didn’t do anything wrong
that’s the problem because a man doesn’t
send a girl yellow roses on Valentine’s Day.
Willie is half asleep but awake enough
to know if he didn’t do anything wrong
why is Millie calling him at midnight.
He’s out of town on the company’s buck
and has a big meeting tomorrow with
a big presentation to give to the board.
He listens for 20 minutes and as soon
as Millie’s voice cracks he knows
a hurricane of tears has begun so he says
he didn’t order any yellow roses.
He ordered three-dozen long-stems
with a jungle of the usual greenery
in a beautiful vase with baby’s breath.
He figured they’d send red roses because
he paid enough to buy a botanical garden.
Millie says tomorrow she’s calling the florist
and giving him Hades but Willie says please don’t.
He and the guy who took the order are from Mars.
Willie will pick up red roses on his way back to Venus.
Donal Mahoney
