Longtime Companion, poems by Eamonn Lynskey
Eamonn Lynskey is a poet and essayist whose work has appeared in many magazines and journals. His third poetry collection, ‘It’s Time’, was published by Salmon Poetry in May 2017. www.eamonnlynskey.com
Longtime Companion
Beside the microwave
and Kenwood Chef and toaster –
me. There was a time
you cupped your hands to drink
freshwater from a stream,
then had the sudden thought
to shape me. Later still
to round me on the wheel
and decorate me, bake me,
sometimes accidentally
break me in your earth-floored
neolithic kitchen.
And it wasn’t long
before you learned to bend me
out of metal, came
to place me gently
with the shrouds of those
who journeyed to the Shades.
These dials and switches now,
these interactive screens
and temperature controls
are very welcome, but
always standing nearby
full, or empty, me:
wooden, clay or metal,
porcelain or plastic,
ever I remain,
Your humble servant.
Leeson Street Bridge, Evening
Impatient at the red light on the bridge
they crowd the kerb, grudge every moment lost,
frustrated at the tiniest subtraction
from the hours allowed them turn their backs
on weekly stats, accounts-due, invoices
and office politics. There is a time
to kill the flickering screen, adjust the eye
to open-plan of streets, remark the crease
a swan leaves in its wake. There is a time
to latch the door, throw off the coat and try
to resurrect a semblance of the self—
The lights are green again. The time is now.
© Eamonn Lynskey