Speed of Light

 (North Earl Street Series).

Speed of Light

He was here in Limerick today,

and with him came memories
of North Earl Street.

Years folded in on themselves.

For a while,
Dublin and Limerick
occupied the same space.

He does here
what he did there:

preaching God's word,
standing on a street corner,
speaking to whoever will listen.

Now he has Jeffrey beside him.

Jeffrey preaches.

He preaches.

And for a moment
it is as though nothing has changed.

We used to call him
the Speed of Light.

Not because he's superhuman,
but because the moment
he stopped preaching,
he vanished.

One minute he was there,
the next he was halfway up the road,
hurrying towards the next place,
the next conversation,
the next person.

Always moving.

Always going somewhere.

Today,
after the preaching was done,
he stood and talked with me.

We remembered North Earl Street.

Old faces.

Old stories.

Times gone by.

The years between us
seemed to shrink.

There was laughter,
recognition,
and that strange feeling
that comes when the past
walks unexpectedly into the present.

It's a little piece of Dublin
when he comes to Limerick.

Two worlds blending together.

A familiar voice
from another chapter of life.

And when the conversation ends,
I half expect him
to disappear again,

already hurrying up the road,

our Speed of Light man,

still moving,
still preaching,
still Jonathan.