A clear day and no memories
        a young summer’s day
expected to fulfil all the rituals
        of the season : a magpie
proclaiming its matey boasts
        from the summit of a garden conifer

In the live living air
        knowledge of this day
is there to create
        since none of us
has ever been here before
        nor will ever return

But the poet throws down
        a trusty gauntlet : how
might we transform the shallow
        spectacle of our lives
and endow our activities
        with lustrous meaning

John Lyons