
So to the life learnt
So to the life learnt
word by word :
who walks beside me in the shadow
of Shad Thames ?
the hollow space
in your image and likeness
the simple mathematics
as dawn breaks
above my head
on this Easter Sunday
I have a mind full of you
and of words
from other scriptures
and I salute the day with love
The ghosts of Wilfred Owen
and of Paul Éluard
move through these lines
one mortally wounded
the other a survivor
in the Great War
There was a time
when your almond eyes
drifted into mine
mine into yours
a time when parting
on Tooley Street
was such sweet sorrow
before Hamlet appeared
Now there are red tulips
and daffodils
with their yellow petals
spread in honour
of the stars from where
they come
and there are words
so many words
that I deploy
in my struggle against
the ravages of time
and the loss of love
John Lyons