Year: 2019

Birthday in Rushden

irlandesuk poetry

Birthday in Rushden

Where you took
           your first breath
and all that has
           happened since
the laughter
           and the tears

those you have
           known and loved
your eyes alert
           to the slightest
act of tenderness
           Where your limbs
first stirred
           and where
from time to time
           your thoughts return

On each occasion
           you feel the same
you feel different
           knowing that you too
in spirit and in the flesh
           are deeply loved

John Lyons

 

A mind of winter

irlandesuk poetry

A mind of winter

Today I have
           a mind of winter
a heavy frost overnight
           has coated the cars
with freezing ice
           and the glazed paths
are treacherous
           underfoot
as I make my way
           down to the station

now is no time to slip
           and break a bone
in the darkness
           A mind of winter
in which all things
           fall back to the earth
trees stripped bare
           to reveal hidden nests
a world it would seem
           in disarray
in which things end
           the only warmth
to be found
           in the arms
of the one I love
           the one I love

John Lyons

 

Art everlasting

irlandesuk art, poetry
flowers on blue
Flowers on blue background

Art everlasting

These frail flowers
           a figment
of the imagination
           nothing real
or accurate
           or even precise
or well-executed
           mere pigment
on a wooden base
           but not a single rose
or peony or petunia
           or daffodil
will outlive this
           notional posy

John Lyons

A love bouquet

irlandesuk art, poetry
suggestion_flowers
Love bouquet, John Lyons (oil on wood)

A love bouquet

The mere suggestion
           will suffice
when it comes
           to art
the form
           inseparable
from the content
           shapes we carry
in the memory
           things associated
with multiple purposes
           the detailing
of the expression
           of feelings
a simple bouquet
           for my love

John Lyons

Corrected text

The web of wombs

irlandesuk poetry

The web of wombs

The stars are out tonight
not quite infinite in number

but nevertheless innumerable
diamonds are tiny nuggets of star

stars and diamonds are celebration
that in the darkness there is light

as there is light in her eyes
and in her smile a celebration

In these winter days
we have each other for warmth

all warmth from the stars
all love that warms the cockles

the creative universe a web of wombs
out of which each human heart

John Lyons

The necessary rose

irlandesuk poetry ,

The necessary rose

What Wallace took
           from Emerson
that the beautiful rests
           on the foundations
of the necessary
           the poet’s fidelity
to his office
           to the announcement
and affirmation
           of the beauty of things

All form is an effect
           of character
all condition
           of the quality of life
The soul is the form
           that makes the body
: the beauty of a rose
           is not arbitrary
it is the embodiment
           of a truth and only as such
does it enter our spiritual world
           and love is the higher beauty
to which our human souls
           necessarily aspire

John Lyons

The age of innocence

irlandesuk poetry

The age of innocence

The age of steam
had not ended
when I was born

I remember
thick plumes of smoke
that trailed
behind the locomotives

and the acrid air
that hung
in the soot-stained platforms

I remember
the piercing whistles
that trumpeted warnings

as the engines roared
through the station
at full throttle

and the rhythmic chug
and pant
and the grinding
of wheels of steel on steel

I was a child then
and I remember
all my innocence
and my love of life

John Lyons

The default setting

irlandesuk poetry

The default setting

When the poem
           doesn’t come together
I put down the words
           and pick up the paints
and when the colours disobey me
           and run riot all over the canvas
I never know what to do
           Someone once told me
Just let them be
           the colours and the words
they will find their own way
           if you just let them be

At the moment my fingers
           are reeking of turpentine
and I don’t know
           whether to paint
or to write
           or do neither

I had a thought
           that the default setting
of our souls
           is love
and that we are to live
           as roses do
rooted in the soil
           aspiring to beauty

John Lyons

Landscape

irlandesuk poetry

Landscape

This is the way it is
           beyond the rows of rooftops
I see a landscape of trees
           their leaves in various states
of decline from green to gold
           and from a distance
it appears that nothing
           is moving

Clusters of birds move into
           and out of my field of vision
and in a neighbouring garden
           the bushes are being flailed
by strong gusts of wind
           which I can also hear
as it curls
           under the eaves

I have nothing to add
           nothing to subtract
from the beauty of being
           alive in this moment

John Lyons