No surrender

We cannot live in the heart of fright
we are not autumnal creatures

the elements of silence and darkness
of coolness and rejection or of empty promise

should not detain us in the path to light
Hope and faith and love are our guide

The flowers that open under the spring sun
the fruit that hangs heavy on the branch

these are our necessary incentives
Time time time should be abandoned

to its own arbitrary devices—
ours is not the agenda of nameless hours

no darkness nor meaningless despair
can curtail our passions

those fleshed fuses that drive us forward
that transmute the monotone into song

Love foresees beginnings never the end
Love lays out the roses for the bed

in which it lies beneath the moonlight :
love laughs gently in the face of loveless fools

I say again that time is pointless patient words
leaves in the forest that slowly descend

Love is a drawn sword that swashbuckles
laying down its arms only to lie in her arms

John Lyons

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