Cost of Poverty Very High
Old barber shop
in a neighborhood
never posh now poor.
A single chair with
an ancient barber
revered for 40 years.
Old customers
returned for trims
and briefings on
the neighborhood
where they grew up
and went to school.
Old barber had no register,
kept money in a drawer,
singles, fives, and tens, not
many but in perfect order.
One day a stranger came
but didn’t want a trim.
A regular found the barber.
His drawer was empty on
the last day he cut hair.
Donal Mahoney, nominated for Best of the Net and Pushcart prizes, Donal Mahoney has had poetry and fiction published in North America, Europe, Asia and Africa. Some of his work can be found by clicking here…