Fragment

I saw today the child I once was
           I saw the fields and the woods
where I played from dawn to dusk
           the foxes and the squirrels
that wandered through those days
           caught the heavy scent
of life in all its vegetative glory
           the fallen trees riven with decay
riddled with a swarm of insect life
           feeding upon the death of fibrous bark

and on the edge of a clearing
           a wild rose that seemed unchanged
from all those years ago
           as though time had passed it by
its petals pure as any truth
           a beauty unfurled for all eternity

John Lyons

Enough already

Once upon a time
           the story of the artist
as a young man
           the story of the rose
of you and I
           of the light of love
not just words
           but the first word
the propositions
           upon which we build
our lives steadfast
           under ill winds
and changing
           constellations

Pride and fame
           and fortune and power
all seen in the context
           of all that fades
beauty fades
           but not the truth
of beauty nor the truth
           of love

John Lyons

The patriot game

Feckless money
lying on the banks

of foreign shores
fattening itself

on sandy beaches
under the shade

of coconut palm
God help us !

John Lyons

Summer sketch

Rain drips through 
            our summer days
and at night
           the fine arts
of the stars
           are banished

Wake to grey clouds
           a cool westerly
and the silence of birds
           rose petals
in the garden
           dripping wet

John Lyons

Simple

Informality of the heart
what we call love
that abides by no rules
that does nothing
but simply is

almost instinctual
self-evident
bolder and yet simpler
than the rose
which is given
in token

if there is beauty
in language
it’s because words
are in love
with words

John Lyons

Day

Under the bending dome of day
           the gentle movement of leaf and flower
morning awaking to birdsong
           and silence and to the play of sunlight
everywhere the thrust of life
           and nature at peace with itself

a fox struts along the top
           of the perimeter wall its eyes
tracking the flight of a small bird
           a dog barks but the fox pays no heed
it sips from an ornamental basin
           and slopes off into the rest of its life

John Lyons

Poetry

The sweetness
           of language
that celebrates
           the sweetness
of life

hymn ode or epic
           poetry is verbal
constellation
           the bloodflow
of language

a newborn child
           pressed to its
mother’s chest
           carried with pride
through the vibrant
           streets

boy or girl
           the eyes yet to focus
born into words of love
           born into the love
of words

poetry that rises
           above the prosaic
is revelation
           of truth and beauty
is fresh anthem
           of the beating heart

John Lyons