Month: Jan 2019

Going down of the sun

irlandesuk poetry

Going down of the sun

Sitting alone by the creek
           the sun still shining
a fresh wind blowing
           the grass and trees
looking their best
           every shade of green
the shadows and the half-shadows
           the dappling glimpses of the water

The wild note of a quail near by
           the quiver of leaf-shadows
over the pages as I read
           the sky aloft with white clouds

And now the sun
           going down in the west
the fragrance of oak and cedar
           light on the air
the inherent beauty
           of all that is

John Lyons

On Hampstead Heath

irlandesuk poetry

On Hampstead Heath

The beauty of light
           or of a single solitary
colour that flames
           in the eye
rose or daffodil
           under a blue-grey sky

and the gleaming scales
           of a salmon moving
through the still waters
           a shadow among shadows

crocuses and snowdrops
           in the lush green spaces
between the thickets
           of ancient woodland
a natural Jackson Pollock
           with a loose hand
broad sweeps of the brush
           and delicate dribbles of detail
the texture of love
           at the tips of one’s fingers
beauty infused
           with warm breath

Hampstead where Keats once lived
           alive with the sound of barking dogs
and the cries of children playing
           kites hovering above the trees
and the coming and going
           of generation after generation
we who inherit the earth
           and marvel at clusters of birth
maturity and decay
           the known feelings that we share
the sight and sound of love
           and the silence that dwells within

John Lyons

A song for January

irlandesuk poetry

A song for January

Handsome blood formed in the womb
           with accurate eye seeks to bond
with impeccable scruple
           Fresh from the toil of night
they shift into the morning rhythms
           bold rise of sun and bird song
and all objective freshness :
           he delights in the intimate intricacy
of her beauty and raises fingers
           five to her lips
caresses the structure
           of her warm being and makes
of each gesture an annunciation
           love held in the palm of his hand

Beauty and light are but the variations
           of this truth illuminated
in the complexities of her skin
           This we might call the earth dance
the conjoining of destinies
           tender bones bound at the hip
gentle waves of universe that flow
           from one to the other
and the soft satin glow
           of their articulate joy

John Lyons

 

Engima variations

irlandesuk poetry ,

Engima variations

What lies at the heart of love
           variations of the enigma
what draws one to another
           deeply and in constancy
It’s neither a word
           nor a series of words
but a manner of being
           just as a rose is what it is
and we know it instantly
           so too love is apprehended
in its existence
           It is not an appetite
nor a dream but as real
           as the rose or the waters
that rise upriver
           in the Vale of Avoca
a multicoloured raiment
           spun from the purest silk

John Lyons

Happy 2019

irlandesuk poetry

Happy 2019

And so to begin again
           yearly and dearly
I shall marshal my resources
           and keep faith with the first duty
which is to defend the small truths
           against those woeful follies and fantasies
that would corrode and eat away
           the body politic

The daily bric-a-brac I shall
           leave behind me
and grieve not one iota
           over the ashes of it
so long as I walk the face
           of this fertile earth

I shall be the flesh and bone
           of my better self
and simply dare to do and be
           and love where love wills life
and wed my good blood
           to all that is deserving of me

John Lyons