This land is parched
dry sandy soil underfoot
here and there a fig tree
amid row after row of walnut
Lower down the hillside
a small plot
with fifteen pomegranates
heavy with fruit
and the sound of crickets
insistent incessant
Two large hares
lope off into the distance
three hawks circle
above the scrubland
The remains
of a small construction
barely a stone
left upon stone
Here Geronimo
lived and worked
all his life
knew little else
John Lyons
Out of sea foam
love formed
not a word
not a notion
but a home
for life
roses fade
and die
not love
it persists
paradise is a person
and a shared path
never to be taken
for granted
John Lyons
The absent mind (deleted)
This poem was a draft for a longer sequence of poems entitled Tooley Street
Two pears from a neighbour’s garden.
Picked last Tuesday, painted this Tuesday.
Eaten today with a slice of bacon
and melted goat’s cheese
and a drizzle of honey.
Simply delicious!
After early morning rain
a short walk through the woods
summer on the cusp
the pitter patter of acorns
raining down
and then suddenly
the distinctive ra-ta-tat-tat
of a woodpecker :
its beak beating on the bark
in search of a grub
I gaze up at the dense green canopy
but cannot see a thing : pitter patter
ra-ta-tat-tat : pitter patter
ra-ta-tat-tat
John Lyons
After the early morning rain
a short walk
through the woods
on the cusp of autumn
and all around
acorns raining down
pitter patter pitter patter
pitter patter pitter patter
then all of a sudden
comes the distinctive
ra-ta-tat ra-ta-ta-tat
of a woodpecker :
its beak beating the bark
ra-ta-tat ra-ta-ta-tat
I gaze up
at the dense green foliage
but can’t see a thing
Ra-ta-tat ra-ta-ta-tat
ra-ta-tat ra-ta-ta-tat
pitter patter pitter patter
John Lyons
Year in year out
the apple tree
blossoms in spring
and by the end
of summer
its branches hang
heavy with fruit
Year in year out
autumn strips
the tree of its leaves
and thus it endures
the winter naked
and forlorn
its branches trembling
in the biting wind
But come spring. . .
John Lyons
A life played by ear
hark to what I say
wherever the feet lead us
we respond to words
or to the intimation of words
all things labeled
and described
catalogued
How the universe
longed for language
and for the relationships
it enables and fosters
the thoughts and dreams
and the acts of love
Our prayers fly up
our words remain
among the simplicities
of the rose
and the comfort
of lips touching
John Lyons
The image of a voice
how can that be ?
sound that conveys
sight or vice versa
Paradise
is a word mouthed
as is love :
lips that evolved
to enable the kiss
And the wagging tongue
loose within
the buccal cavity
fraught with danger
The weight of history
moving between
the two banks of the river
O how they’ve changed
over time
The rise and sink of life
and she marooned there
on the margins of that place
Mudflats when the tide recedes
A river pours into
its own mouth
and disappears
John Lyons
With immaculate
white wings
the swan thrashes
the river surface
at Henley
before regaining
its elegant poise
proud of the space
it occupies
in its succinct
universe
John Lyons
johnjosephlyons 