Download PDF Here 13th Anniversary
Live Encounters Poetry & Writing Volume One December 2022.
Everything Must Go, poems by Eamonn Lynskey.
Everything Must Go
Who had the heart to give away
these decorated tumblers? Not
regret the loss of this fine lamp?
Of these exquisite figurines
of shepherd boys and shepherdesses?
Surely there are necks would wear
these multicoloured necklaces?
The shelving bends with paperbacks,
and knick-knacks congregate in corners,
coats and jackets crowd the aisles
awaiting their deliverance –
like those poor souls in Purgatory
for whom we once were told our prayers
would gain a merciful release.
Theologies today are cool
about that region Dante painted
in such torrid colours but
the owner of this shop is not
so Good News Bible as he is
Old Testament Jehovah, fond
of fire and Judgments Final – Look:
out back, his plastic bags of stuff
that lingered too long on the rack.
Redemption here comes not through prayer
but ready cash. This cap, for instance,
shows the scars of wear but yet
still cuts a dash. Deserves reprieve.
Three Euro? Yes. I’ll take it.
Selfie
Wedged inside the morning crush
I read across a shoulder: POPSTAR
CELEBRATES HIS BIRTHDAY. FIREMEN
RESCUE KITTEN FROM A TREE –
and jammed between the horoscopes
and hair restorers (guaranteed):
the grainy image of a dawn
three hundred million miles away.
The camera arm has twisted back
to photograph the landing craft
that gleams despite its seven months
of surfing on the infinite,
while in the corner of the shot
and barely struggling into view
a landscape strewn with regolith
is waking under russet skies.
We hurtle underneath the Thames
from London Bridge to Baker Street,
imprisoned in the warp of space,
the granularity of time
that scores and shapes the universe …
but now the page is turned again –
I scan the TV lists and – Yes!
We’re DANCING WITH THE STARS tonight!
© Eamonn Lynskey
Eamonn Lynskey is a poet and essayist whose work has appeared in leading magazines and journals, including Senior Times, Crannóg, Poetry Ireland Review, Cyphers magazine and The Irish Times. His fourth collection, Material Support, is due from Salmon Poetry.