James Hannon


Lemonade

Well, the merry-go-round finally broke down.

We had to bring the painted ponies back to their stalls. Of course, everyone misses the music. Sometimes, in the evening, a group of us will gather on the platform and try to move it with our butt muscles. It’s an isometric exercise. We know it’s not going to start up again, at least not any time soon. The good news is we’re getting much better prepared to absorb future kicks in the butt. You could say we were handed a bunch of lemons and made the best of it, like we always do.



And Now Let’s Hear From

As the country continued the descent into fascism, mainstream media maintained their both-sides approach. After the right-wing gained control of all three branches, they declared a national emergency — a left-wing conspiracy to seize power through computerized election theft — and placed unprecedented restrictions on the press. The publications that defied these restrictions were shut down. Journalists who found other ways to protest this previously inconceivable assault on the press were arrested and jailed. As the authorized press parroted the government line, a majority of the public came to view the censorship and imprisonment as necessary steps to ensure democracy.

An Unnecessary Display of Emotion

is what her mother called it when Shadi felt that pain 
in her chest and solar plexus as if she had been punched 
and kicked at the same time and couldn’t stop herself
from crying. As if she had been punched, but no, no 
physical violence, it was just her mother’s disappointment 
after all she had to go through to have her and how badly 
Shadi’s father must feel after escaping tyranny to come to 
this country penniless and then have two children who 
hurt him sharper than a serpent’s tooth and why, why 
couldn’t she dress like a young lady??!

and later when Shadi was a suicidal teen, her mother wanted
to comfort her when she cried but Shadi doesn’t like to be 
touched when she’s upset so why then did she hug her friends 
and Shadi said again it’s only when she’s upset that she doesn’t 
like being held and her mother said, “Why Not??!!” and Shadi 
said because it feels claustrophobic and at that her mother said, 
“Oh my God” and started crying and then Shadi had to find a way
to comfort her mother who liked to say 

They always blame the mother. It’s always the mother’s fault.
They always blame the mother. It’s always the mother’s fault. 
They always always blame blame blame the mother. 

James Hannon is a psychotherapist in Massachusetts, His work has appeared in Blue River, Cold Mountain Review, Psaltery and Lyre, Soundings East, and other journals and in Gathered: Contemporary Quaker Poets. His second poetry collection, To My Children at Christmas, was published in 2022 by Kelsay Books. Jameshannonpoetryplus.com

 
 

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