(Groundwork, John Lyons (40 x 40, oil on canvas)
Marks on the surface
a splash of colour
here and there :
the mere suggestion
of a face
a serious expression
Lines are left suspended
just as time appears
to stagnate
What if the figure
could speak ?
What would it say
about the state
of the world ?
John Lyons
The summer migrants
have returned
the humble house martens
that wintered
in North Africa
They’re back
in time for the daffodils
for the last
of the winter crocuses
Last night at dusk
I watched them
darting to and fro
feeding on the wing
Soon their minds
will turn to building
nests—temporary homes
under the eaves
somewhere to raise
a young family
John Lyons
Land, John Lyons (40 x 40 cm, oil on canvas)
Think of it thus
as a garden
as a small plot of land
the soil recently
turned in preparation
for a new crop
In the artist’s mind
the seeds may already
have been sown
Who knows what
may appear—a portrait
of a face once beloved
or a landscape remembered
with affection or
some other grand gesture
Earth colours
will be applied —
this too is the work
of sunlight
and what is born here
will live forever
John Lyons
The peasant family, Taras Schevchenko (1843)
Do not envy the rich man,
He knows nothing ever
Of friendship nor of love—
For those he must pay.
Do not envy the powerful,
They are obliged to bully ;
Do not envy the famous
For they know well enough
It’s not they who are loved
But their bitter fame
Which in order to please gushes
From the blood and tears of bitter pain.
And to the young they meet,
All is quiet and blissful
As in paradise—but see :
Something is really wrong.
Therefore, envy, no one ;
Look around—and you will never
Find paradise on this earth,
Nor, indeed, in heaven above.
Taras Schevchenko
(version by John Lyons)
Taras Schevchenko, (1814-1861) is Ukraine’s national poet and the personification of the Ukrainians’ thirst for liberty and independence. Schevchenko was born into serfdom, but in 1838, a group of artist friends purchased his freedom with the proceeds from a sale of their paintings. Schevchenko was an accomplished painter of landscapes and historical canvases
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SUPPORT UKRAINE
When you see
a flock of crows
fly past
you know
that they know
something you
don’t know
the natural world
holds so many secrets
and everything dances
to a different tune
the fact that most trees
outlive us should
tell us something
about priorities
but only love
can outlast a life
true love that is
there is no other
Mirage, John Lyons (70 x 50 cm, oil on canvas)
How to reconcile
the syllables of silence
with empty vessels
In my mind
I crossed a Sahara
endless dunes
endless silence
I a passenger
in the wilderness
parched by day
by night shivering
under the stars
love the oasis
of milk and honey
on the eager tongue
at daybreak
the heart calculates
the distance
the horizon
the never-ending
thread
John Lyons
Revised
More sky than sea
more soil than land
the inventions of history
cannot contain you
When the oil is spent
the light goes out
the wick is thrown away
Your spirit transcends
these times
this place
your love knows
no boundaries
John Lyons
I knew: the world was hiding from me,
behind all things another thing hides
and snaps at my heels. All the while
it refuses to show me its true face,
because the trust and friendship between
man and the world have now been lost.
Not for no reason do the smallest birds
recoil from me, or fish scatter
the moment they recognise a human shape,
or with their fragile beauty do flowers wish
to save themselves from me (the final
shred of hope that human beings
are not entirely beyond redemption). After all,
I thought, the harmony of worlds
has not bypassed humanity, instead
a certain distance has been established:
you belong to the world only thus far.
Vasyl Stus
Version by John Lyons
Vasyl Stus (1938-1985), was a Ukrainian poet, translator, literary critic, journalist, and an active member of the Ukrainian dissident movement. For his political convictions, his works were banned by the Soviet regime and he spent 13 years in detention, until his death in a Soviet forced labor camp for political prisoners.
AROUND THE WORLD, EVERY CULTURAL VENUE AND SPACE CLOSING IT DOORS TO RUSSIAN PERFORMANCES SHOULD OFFER THEM TO UKRAINIAN CULTURE
The sea sorts shells
on the seashore
while white plumes
form in the foam
and tonight
a scattering of stars
will shine down on us
and we will continue
on the tick tock of our sad
misadventures
Nobody knows
where the words
are heading
but in these times
of war our hearts
beat for peace
for human nature
to regain
the upper hand
for love to rule
in the house
of verbs
John Lyons
In these times of war
how precious is silence
language is overrated
words words words
when what we want
is human warmth
a gentle touch
a relaxed smile
for time to flow
uninterrupted by
extraneous sound
In these times of war
it’s love that will
pull us through
and the courage
that love brings
to our hearts and
to our resolve
for birds to return
to the city centre
for palpable peace
to reign
in the silence
John Lyons
