(Mary McCarthy Lynch, 1867-1949)
Back when I used to smoke, I’d stub them out in crystal ashtrays all around the house
that turned my stomach, emptied in the trash. Times when I slipped the last one from the pack
too late at night to risk a run for more at some gas station slash convenience store,
I’d comb through ashes for the longest butts and light them up again without disgust.
* * * * * * * *
Minnie McCarthy scandalized the town of Knockmullane, Cork, turning Jack Lynch down.
Pretty girls wanted American fun, not boredom in Ireland with a farmer’s son!
He followed her over and found her on her knees scrubbing Protestant toilets for a couple bucks a week
and proposed to her again with no resistance met. He was the longest butt she was going to get.