Grecian Urn revisited
It is the intensity
the thingness
of made objects
that Keats captured
in his Grecian Urn
an energy that derives
not merely
from the simplicities
of the bridal narrative
nor the implied music
piped down the centuries
but from the density
of time manifest
in the vessel
forever shaped
by the potter’s
temporal hand
the craftsman
who one day rose
from his bed
and set about
his daily work
to fabricate eternity
Art first and foremost
is a matter
of shaping matter
whether it be out of air
or stone or words or clay
or the dance
of thought and movement
across space and time
Art is the quintessential
labour of love – that is –
a necessary confection
of heart and soul
Form is creation
the means by which
we elevate our humanity
above the senselessness
of nature
Form predicates relationship
structures shaped
from elemental content
It is we – by the way –
who bestow beauty
on the rose
Creation alters by adding
to our condition
It despises the replica
scorns the dullness of duplication
it animates the affirmation
of beauty’s truth
silence begone
stasis
there is none
all things express
—the status quo
is a lie
John Lyons