october 2017
Conference - Mark Anthony Houlahan
It was the
visitorial garb
of the
conferencing academic
tweed jacket
tourist map
left pocket
knitted tie
snappy trousers
that stood out from
the mid-day
marketplace crowd
It was the
sheen
on the
foot-long machete
an inch
from my
breastbone
the polite request
of the knife-holding
young man
Be still Big Boss
It was the
soft hold
on my shoulders
of his
two assistants
their finesse in
removing
a watch
from the
right wrist
and a
travel bag
from my back
That made the Johannesburg mugging adventure experience
a highlight of my South Africa sojourn
Contributor's Note
I first remember my own words in print for the school magazine, St. Peter's College, Epsom, 1971. They were late; and not as good as they should have been. So it goes. I’d like to recall the past clearly; & then be open to words arriving out of blue skies.