Absence, John Lyons (40 x 40 cm, mixed media on canvas)

In the absence
in the silence
in the stillness
in all simplicity
where dust falls
where light fades
where night comes
and night goes
and seasons shift
one after another
art endures
with its words
and images

every word
every flower
has its shadow
paper curls away
from the canvas
artificial but
not unreal
it purveys a notion
of timelessness
perhaps of serenity
and yet the colours
lack vibrancy
as though the art
were sleeping
a melancholy dream

what hand tends
these flowers
who observes them
who admires them
this gift of nature ?
beauty that makes
no demands
that soothes the mind
that satisfies the heart
that softens life’s
hard edges
speaks only
of love

John Lyons