The Lamp

Well-crafted, handsome lamp that graced
the desk so long she had to stop to calculate,
but almost overnight, it failed. The light
would flicker on, then off, sporadic times
that caught her in the midst of work
and were, therefore, annoying.
Change of bulb, a temporary answer only,
thorough cleaning had the same result.
New switch? New pull? New cord, but no.
So many hours the lamp had freely offered up
its helpful light while letters, bills, her work
had been productively completed, she
was loathe to relegate it to the trash. Rashly,
she presented it at the counter for repair,
prepared to bite the bullet on the cost.
The man instead just shook his head and
moved to chuck it in the bin but then he
noticed that she stared in horror at the thought.
"You want it back? Won't ever work," but
gratefully, she took it back and set it on a shelf
above her latest purchase, shiny lamp with
such a clever shade it made the whole room
elegant. She grinned each time she turned it on,
so brilliant was its function and design.
In time, the day would come when she could let
the old one go, but not just yet. It met a need
for now, a bookend for some tall and heavy
volumes that she'd previously laid upon
their sides. Sitting now instead propped up
against the tired and failing lamp gave just
the reason to keep her old, once faithful friend
around, but oh, she thought with some regret,
if she had known the difference in her life
that having this new lamp would make, she might,
just might, have shopped for one a little sooner.



(c) Ellen Gillette, 2013


Sometimes we're hesitant to move on to new things, so wrapped up we can become in the old. But sometimes change is better. Not always, but sometimes. I was reminded of something a friend of mine said years ago: "Sometimes you need to change the lightbulb. Sometimes you need to throw out the lamp." My mind just followed her words down that path awhile, and this is what I ended up with.