Third degree

Before our eyes 
colours change
greens to golds and rust
leaves drying
in the air
cascading down 
to the earth
whence they sprang

Eternal cycle
of life and death
and everywhere eyes 
seeking the light
in one another
the rods and cones
of the retina
and there 
our own image
in the eyes
of the beloved

A many-eyed
city of flesh
the intersections of sight
that sustain it all 
life always doing
always undone
until the last gasp :
in the pitch darkness 
inherent vision
the faithful rose
the kiss
that remains

John Lyons