green panatela
Green Panatela
by donal mahoney
Waiting in his Cadillac, silver gray,
Dr. Oates swerves his lighter
to his green panatela.
Next to Dr. Oates,
a poodle, silver gray, barks
where Mrs. Oates will sit
in moments now,
when from the beauty shop,
coiffed silver gray,
majestically she issues.
I love it. And I honestly don’t know what a green panatela is. A cigarette? Ok, I’ll google it now and pretend I knew what it was all along.
A green panatela is a cigar. But the question might be is the cigar just a cigar? and what about the cadillac? But the focus seems to be on all the silver gray, so I think its just a little portrait of aging wealth and its status markers. But I still wonder about the cigar.
Ah, a cigar.
I see it as silver/gray/green = aging wealth. Old money.
The more I read it the more I really enjoy the brevity and structure of this piece. Nice work, Mr. Mahoney.
I actually just read some more of his work online, and this guy is really, really good. I wish I could write like him.
burnt ashes smoldered past gray
dismissed to weathered tarmac.
maybe?