'Berlusconi Does Time'

And on the first morning,

as I help her with her breakfast,

I wonder if she recognises me –

she  gives me a strange look.

On the second morning,

while I sort through her laundry,

she says: are you the guy

who used to be on the television?

On the third morning,

she is sleeping soundly.

She looks so peaceful,

I almost envy her.

On the fourth morning,

When I wheel her out into the garden.

She asks me: how come you never

invited me to any of your parties?

On the fifth morning,

I  read her the newspaper:

I’m in it, of course, (a bad photo) -

she gives me that look again.

On the sixth morning,

her teenage granddaughter comes to visit.

I ask her later what age the girl is:

she says she can’t remember.

On the seventh morning,

she smiles and says hello, handsome.

At least they can now say

I did the community some service.

 Maeve O'Sullivan

http://www.eveningtelegraph.co.uk/news/uk-world/berlusconi-in-bunga-bunga-appeal-1.432746

Dubliner Maeve O’Sullivan’s work has been widely published and anthologised for twenty years. Her collections of haiku (Initial Response, 2011) and poetry (Vocal Chords, 2014), are from Alba Publishing. www.twitter.com/maeveos

The Magician

The audience had been enthralled
by prestidigitation and clever tricks.
Three times he had been recalled
to the proscenium to great applause
acknowledged by him with magnanimity
but in the crowd there were also those
who saw him as the deluded emperor
who was sure he wore invisible clothes.
He offered the people renewed hope
by showing them how to reconnect
two broken strands of a severed rope.
Then all of a sudden the magic wore off;
as the audience grew more disenchanted
there were loud whisperings and cough.
The very same followers he had wooed
pilloried him for exercising deceit
and so the great magician was booed.
He looked for a rabbit in his top hat,
or a dove, but nothing could be found,
knew he’d lost his touch and that was that.

© Luigi Pagano 2013



Silvio Berluscony, ex-prime minister



Luigi Pagano is a contributor to Poetry24 and other websites.

His poetry collections have appeared in print as well as e-books.