Here is a new world
created by chance
as all worlds are
depicted on taut hide
the coloured elements
of a rare earth
scars in the cosmos
in which it floats
its geometric perfection
at odds with its universe
to believe that therein
bees and butterflies exist
and seeds and flowers
and what when two
people come together
is known as love
John Lyons
If you appreciate the smell
of linseed oil then yes
there is a certain fragrance
to this canvas
that may well linger
when we are long gone
But what have we here
a study of sky and ocean
and a glimpse
of the shore’s anatomy
an imagination bound
by crude physical dimensions
all of us ultimately born
out of the sea and the stars
our origins staring us
daily in the face
the cycles and the tides
foam on the shores
of the universe
more questions than answers
a mystery to ourselves
who want only for love
John Lyons
Easy picking
of the low-hanging fruit
the sun each evening
lower in the sky
warm days
cool nights
the grass thick with dew
when we wake
I said
winter is staring us in the face
let’s take care of those things
of the spirit that will determine
our happiness and well-being
in the hard days ahead
Let’s be wise in our affairs
and articulate the love
we feel for each other
and above all
let’s make amends
for any offence
There are blackberries
in abundance in woodlands
along the railway cuttings
in back gardens—
let’s enjoy them while we can
and be thankful
John Lyons
Totally revised
We all like a little excitement
perhaps a night on the town
hair done so we look our best
add a little personal colour
to stand out from the crowd
We’re all looking for love
or at the least some social acceptance
None of us wants to be eaten alive
or to return crestfallen at dawn
our hopes & dreams crushed underfoot
John Lyons
Revised
Two figures
drained of colour
sepia with just a hint
of blue
Sometimes more
is less
sometimes less
is more
Art is evocation
it suggests :
when it seeks to impose
it overpowers
in that way
art resembles
relationships
and love
in which
tenderness
and gentleness
are its strengths
John Lyons
A thousand choices
but nothing random
in the distribution of blues
and yellows and burnt umber
along with white and grey cells
but the entire composition
irrigated by the red capillaries
that bind the composition
together while allowing
the light to shine through
John Lyons
Corrected
What Botticelli shows us
out of the foam the form
the shape of beauty
and Boris Vian
who loved jazz :
out of the foam of days
life inchoate
we are here to build it
by establishing relationships
not so much order as growth
Every form of life
is an organization that draws
upon the materials around it
and art too is organization
that runs contrary
to the dispersal of energies
entropy is a challenge
but love defeats it
even with one hand tied
behind the back
John Lyons
In painting as in music and literature
what is often called abstract
is little more than a figurative representation
of a more delicate more difficult reality
less visible to the naked eye
Clarice Lispector
And so the remains of memory
the rabbits fed on wheat husks
mackerel fished
throughout the summer
to provide for the winter
paddling out to the island
in the kayak
we had built in the garage
soaking up the sun
on those endless innocent days
the first taste of conger eel
the first taste of wine
the first taste of a girl’s lips
an inkling of what love might be
in the years to come
the pleasure and the pain
John Lyons
No words required!
johnjosephlyons 