Kill Your Television

Kill your television
That’s what he said
Soap freak
Kill your television
I didn’t have to
It blew up.

Now I listen to the radio
He said
Kill your radio
Chart freak
Kill your radio
I didn’t have to
Somebody stole it.

Now I read books
He said
What are you reading?
I look up and mumble a name
He smiles
And I start reading again.

I come home from work
A new television sits in the corner
He stares at the screen all day
All week all year.

I shout
Kill your television
Soap freak
Kill your television
That’s what he used to say.

Emer Davis grew up on Achill Island. She spent the first recession in London and this time round she is working and living in Abu Dhabi but still paying taxes to the Irish government. Although she can’t swim she loves islands and finds inspiration from the sea whether it be Achill, Kos, Skiathos, Ibiza, Lanzarote, Majorca or Abu Dhabi. She published her first collection Kill Your Television in September 2010 and has had several poems and short stories published in various anthologies and journals in Ireland, UK and the USA. Her blog, The Viaduct Bards is here.