Year: 2020

Reflections on a frosted glass

irlandesuk poetry

Reflections on a frosted glass

What does it take
           for us to be as we are
fully and freely
           to love as love is intended
and to create beauty
           in every thought
word and deed
           of our existence ?

poetry and dance
           the voice and movement
of angels
           leaps of the imagination
into the darkness out of which
           all creation emerges

Love is not a thing
           it is the soul of our being
impossible to be defined
           or circumscribed
by words alone
           What does it take
to be who we are bound
           to be ?

John Lyons

Stardom

irlandesuk art, poetry
stardom
Stardom, John Lyons (50 x 40 cm, oil on canvas)

Stardom

I carry my silence with me
           it’s a place in which trees
and plants and the whole
           of nature exist without words
the pure being unqualified
           by thought or even feeling

in this place there is love
           that demands no expression
love as the air moves
           through my lungs
love as the blood courses
           through my veins
love that resolves
           the mystery of the universe
so that I no longer ask
           why stars ?
we – you and I – are the light
           that illuminates
the darkness
           we are warmth

I cannot see everywhere
           that I am
I can only be
           as I am

John Lyons

Infant poem

irlandesuk poetry

Infant poem

Lookee here
a new-born poem
swaddled in words
it has nothing to say
it just is

in time
it will shed time
but for now
just let it be

see how it gurgles
and foams at the mouth
its whole life ahead
one of laughter and love

in time
it will shed time
but for now
just let it be

John Lyons

A walk on the wild side

irlandesuk poetry

A walk on the wild side

It’s been a good year
for the foxes
they all turn up
in the back garden
looking well-fed
in their rich dense fur

I’ve observed them
gathering from time to time
on the shed roof
when the sun is out
and watched them taking note
of everything around them

in particular
they have been studying
the agility of the cats
that appear every so often
that wander back and forth
prima donnas
paying no attention to anything
other than themselves

and today
for the first time
I saw not one fox but three
walk along the edge
of a garden fence
with all the nonchalance
of their feline friends
first they played tag
gambolling amid the tufts
of the tall grass
before one by one
they leapt onto the wall
and with perfect balance
strutted across
the thin wooden bar
professionals all the way

John Lyons

Coronavirus

irlandesuk poetry

Coronavirus

Matters of life and death
the world gripped
in the vise
of coronavirus

devil may care
no longer an option
the sudden exposure
to vulnerability

and we are all
in this together
the global community
dramatically at risk

disruption and uncertainty
take nothing for granted
live life to the limits
of love and compassion

John Lyons

Coronavirus

Questões de vida e morte
o mundo preso
no torno
de coronavírus

o diabo pode se importar
não é mais uma opção
a súbita exposição
à vulnerabilidade

e somos todos
nisso juntos
a comunidade global
dramaticamente em risco

perturbação e incerteza
tomar nada como garantido
viva a vida até os limites
do amor e da compaixão

Paris France

irlandesuk poetry ,

Paris France

France is a single street
that moves up and down the country

sometimes its centre is Paris
Sometimes it’s Nice or Lyon

But always it’s always a single street
which has no beginning

and no end
And it’s full of French earth

washed by many fine rivers
that flow down from

tall mountains and hills
into the valleys into the sea

John Lyons

Where the river ends

irlandesuk poetry

Where the river ends

We who stand
on the edge of space
wave to each other
in the distance
We carry orchids
to bridge the gap
we burn candles
in tribute
to life’s ephemera

We fall
deeper and deeper
into love
until there’s no escape

While on the river
white swans
preen the feathers 
of their reflection
on the still waters

We know where the river
will end and we know
that we will end there
too

John Lyons

Words from the fragrant portal

irlandesuk poetry ,

Words from the fragrant portal

So the demarcations
of day and night
of here and now
or there
or there
of now and again
the rise and fall
of empires
as it always was
and will be

and love parading
through the streets
of Vienna
strolling hand in hand
under the dark
moonless sky
love in which the body
is taken to its limits
overreaches itself
pours into another
so that it is neither
he nor she

words against the silence
breath against extinction
life and death
universe without limit
time a mere drop
in the ocean

John Lyons

Making sense

irlandesuk poetry

Making sense

By a process
of elimination
defining who I am
by describing
what I am not

an admirer of the sea
and of the mountains
the hills and the valleys
shorelines I have
walked along

those I have known
those who have
disowned me
colours
at the tips
of my fingers
words
on the tip
of my tongue

chords
from the vocal cords
and yet an inner silence
untroubled by meaning
riffs of affection
curled in a ball
of love

John Lyons