Refreshment
Things
as they are
without spin or drift
without compromise
the truth stripped back
to its essentials
honesty and generosity
of the heart
John Lyons
Month: Dec 2017
Styx and stones
Styx and stones
The city within
the rise and fall of it
a world driven
by light and by words
a word-world so to speak
built of star-blood
what it costs to be poor
what it costs to love
what is costs
to succeed
what it costs
to fail
Mythology tells us
there are two sides
to every river
I have crossed the Danube
back and forth
and survived longer
than I would
have imagined
John Lyons
Rimbaud revisitation
Rimbaud revisitation
The suburbs arrayed
amid cold meadows
no bell sounding
prayer long fallen silent
Here the air resounds
to the caw of crows
whole armies of them
that come swooping down
dressed for battle
the black metallic sheen
of their feathers
contemptuous of the light
their rapier beaks
sharpened for business
no solace in their haughty bearing
that sets them apart
from the smaller birds :
nature too has its favourites
Along the roads
and down by the little stream
they congregate in twos and threes
in fours and fives
but do not dally showing disdain
for Calvary’s winding lanes
Those who see them
shudder at the thought
of life’s tender fragility
the cold message
so dutifully delivered
by these harbingers
of all things sepulchral
But o you black birds
you cry in vain
for the winter
that now smothers
the barren fields
will lift soon enough
and the warbler’s voice
once again will be heard
singing from the tops
of mighty oaks
John Lyons
Conspicuous love
Conspicuous love
Conspicuous love
in the caress
in the kiss
and in the poetry
of words
number
and intensity
of energies shaped
by affection
a rose
for beauty’s sake
adorns the warm body
of the universe
and perfect equilibrium
through every phase
and transition
the artistic fuse
that runs through
all things
here in our now
as then in their then
the relativity
of all relationships
a words’ worth
of daffodils
in eternal dance
John Lyons
Preamble to verse
Preamble to verse
Memory of presence
in the past
captured in words
architectures of existence
in the flow of time
a rubric of emotions
of lines drawn in the sand
words that bind us
to ourselves
and to each other
interwoven
the threads of life
the sometime love
the name on our lips
the phrasing of our lives
what it is to be in words
what it is to know
in words that appear
and reappear
time and time again
At dawn I sought
the words for you
the word
the name of you
sound of my heart
light of my love
my breath time
and my space
John Lyons
World without words
World
without
words
Imagine
Merry
Christmas !
Vienna
Vienna
What words where
what words when
what words who
what words how
a robin and a rose
and a memory
others’ words moving
through me
living within me
what where when
so cold the wind
and as darkness falls
a clear blue sky
a moon in decline
John Lyons
A star is born
A star is born
Above all else
the thread of life
from the point
of conception
our destinies
written
as we speak
the vowels
and consonants
formed in the stars
the cosmos
one entire utterance
a poetry of rhythm
an expression of energy
beauty at every turn
and in every detail
ugliness only
in the denial of love
John Lyons
Work in progress
Work in progress
Who would think
to count the stars
in the firmament
or to weigh the universe
in the palm of his hand ?
Such is the mystery of life
that it defies explanation
is not open to calculus
or to reason and yet
is the only thing
that makes sense
all else emptiness
devoid of meaning
lacking in purpose
When the sun set
Rilke closed his eyes
and had a dream
a ladder reaching up
to the heavens
with shrieking angels
running up and down
until day broke
and the scene faded
in his eyes but not
in his mind : that country
from which none return
but the question is :
Why would they ?
For years I have watched
as the apple blossoms fell
as the fruit ripened
on the branch and fell too
as swallows flew
north and south
and notched another year
but I have never lost faith
in the poetics of love
the binding of words
that come together
and shape our lives
Everything is a work
in progress
everything driven
by starlight
all else emptiness
all else lost forever
John Lyons
Live lips listen
Live lips listen
Live lips listen
or else all else lost
for love pays
attention to detail
to the intricacies
to the rise and fall
of another’s breath
and this is no small thing
all else lost
if no love
no purpose
in the world
of rocks and stones
and trees
animus
the spirit
sanctified
in the kiss
and live lips
speak it best
all else dust
if not driven
by the pure body
to enlighten love
to glow with desire
to be one and whole
one and all
all in one
all else worthless
without love’s arts
shaped from the wisdom
of dreams rooted in our earth
and sketched in our skies
all else unseeded silence
John Lyons
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