Gresham's Hotel, 1817

by

Lourda Delaney

I could breathe easily there.  Sleep on the soft,

luxurious mattress, voluptuous pillows,

Egyptian cotton sheets.

The opulent bed swallowed my swollen abdomen.

Detached from daily drudgery:  cook, cleaner,

childminder, teacher, nurse, warden, lover.

A gentle breeze tickles Waterford Crystal chandeliers.

Eyelids droop, I ponder my surroundings.

Sackville Street, the hub of fashionable Dublin in 1817.

Founded by a foundling, Thomas Gresham.

Large fires burn night and day,

ignite this grand Georgian establishment.

April 1938, Arthur and May’s wedding breakfast,

guests gorged on: grapefruit, fillets of sole,

roast spring chicken, Limerick ham, sherry trifle.

World War II, the ‘golden age’ of the Gresham.

Toddy O’Sullivan served black market

butter, spirits, and tea.

Eleanor Roosevelt tucked into afternoon tea

with an entourage of airmen.

Princess Grace, the Beatles, Elizabeth Taylor

all entered this elegant façade.

Eavan Boland served them cucumber sandwiches 

and Victoria sponge cake when she was seventeen.

The clinking chandelier rouses me from my reverie,

She flutters in my womb.

Restored, I join the glitterati for tea.

Lourda Delaney is a mature student currently completing a BA(Hons) Degree in English and History. She has gained an invaluable amount of knowledge regarding the art of writing because of this course. 

She has two almost grown-up children, a son and a daughter who are inspirational in many ways. She loves to write and has always done so but only recently has she begun to submit her work to journals and magazines in an attempt to get published. 

She loves to write poetry, but she also writes short stories, plays and has also tried song-writing.  All are great ways to express thoughts and emotions and by using these methods she interprets the world around her, the good and the bad.