Year: 2017

Wake up call

irlandesuk poetry

Wake up call

A plush navy-blue billowing sky
           as the sun set yesterday
and I wonder what
           that portends
Today a dawn chorus
           worthy of spring 
life on the cusp
           renewal and growth
every reason to feel
           relaxed and optimistic
about the days to come :
           through the banks
of drifting cloud
           there is light
coming from the east
           I hear pigeons courting
nearby and see other birds
           hastening to their action
stations and a lone jet
           has bisected the sky
with a thin white line
           travellers to and fro
It’s one of those days
           when you just know
that nothing can go wrong
           that a kiss could not put right

John Lyons

Lyric

irlandesuk poetry ,

Lyric

Love lifts the grey day
           from the grey waters
of the grey river
           that flows by the Tower
of cold hard grey flint

Love lifts the day
           with her warmth
and her kiss
           and her kind words
and the tenderness
           of her smile
and the openness
           of her arms

Time is a single measure
           and not of all things
but of things only
           that pass and fade
and grow dimmer
           and decline and ultimately
wither away —
           petals consumed
in the fiery furnace :
           not so love
that lifts the day
           however grey
and fills the minute and the hour
            with bliss enjoyed  
and the promise 
             of more to come

John Lyons

The glory

irlandesuk poetry

The glory

The palpable substance of life
             evident in all things
all that grows and flourishes and dies
             all that process of being
the glory of nature
             and we part of it
the glory of swift-flowing rivers
             and seas and mountains
and the endlessness of life
             the throngs of people on the street
seeing them and hearing them
             and knowing the ties that exist
between strangers
             the common bond shared
the glories with which life
             is adorned daily
and not least
             the glory of love

John Lyons

Agenda

irlandesuk poetry

Agenda

It has taken generations
           of imagination to arrive
at the world we have today
           to develop the sense of things
and a sense of the self :
           there was a time of innocence
but we live in an age of complicity
           and intricate evasions of the truth

and still the approach to summer
           has its separate silence
which may be detected
           in the modulated signals
of birdsong

Nature with its own
           unfretted agenda : yesterday
daffodils and crocuses
           and swathes of cherry blossom
and buds barely able
           to contain their leaves

John Lyons

Bicycles

irlandesuk poetry

Bicycles

Winter has returned
           with a vengeance
strong winds and the threat
           of ice and snow :
waking at dawn I notice
           how quiet the world is
almost as though everyone
           has gone away or is in hiding
and that includes the birds
           that normally sing their hearts out
at this hour but today are silent
            Through the window I see
the sharp profile of houses
           dormant in the first light :
if this keeps up
           plans for the weekend
will have to be put on hold
           the bicycles with their oiled gears
and pumped up tires
           will just have to wait

John Lyons

Weekend wisdom

irlandesuk poetry ,

Weekend wisdom

A short walk
           down the path
to the front door
           where to the left
a climbing rose
           has just been planted
and behind it
           a new trellis
pinned to the wall

The rose will prosper
           its roots will reach
deep into the earth
           the mineral truth
of its beauty
           will flourish
year on year
           and it will be
a thing of joy

The emblematic rose
           and the power
of object and images
           and the speech of truth
what Wallace called
           weekend wisdom
the time devoted
           to words and thoughts
and how we carry words
           within us
close to our hearts
           weekend thoughts and words
and the sad smell of lilacs
           displaced
by the rose’s aroma
           and how we give
each other our word
           and how its truth
lies at the very heart
           of language
and how betrayal
           of the word
is an arrogant dagger
           fatal to desire

John Lyons

Mosaic

irlandesuk poetry ,

Mosaic

I remember the cascade of light
refracted through the droplets of rain 

I remember the amber gleam of your eyes
gazing at me from time to time

I remember the love that I saw there
and how our bodies flowed together

effortlessly as we crossed bridges
and strolled along the endless canals

I remember thinking how all things end
but how love if it is true transcends all things

I remember thinking that the beauty
of the Venetian mosaics was like the beauty of life

a narrative painstakingly assembled piece by piece
years in the making never to be undone

John Lyons

Face

irlandesuk poetry

Face

How love alters the human face
           the radiant smile
and the alertness of the eyes
           love hungers for love
and is never satisfied
           until love is returned
notice how the whole of the body
           is involved in the expression of love
it may be in the posture
           the stance of the hips
or the angle at which the head is held
           it may be in the hands that gesture
unconsciously to underline the love
           it may be in the lips
pursed and as though poised
           to give a kiss at a moment’s notice
because it is ever eager to express itself
           in the simplest most tender ways
the outward signs of inner feelings
           but it’s the face above all
that alters when love is present
           the face is often an invitation
and always an announcement
           when love is present

John Lyons

Simple

irlandesuk poetry

Simple

As I walk home
a string of ducks
flying overhead
heading south

sunshine
for the first time
in many days

the air feels clean
and fresh
a hint of spring

a reminder
just how good
it is to be alive

John Lyons