Author: irlandesuk

Only love can hold

irlandesuk poetry

A green hill that rolls off
       into the distance
people are out
       walking their dogs
and birds are mustering
       too far away for me
to identify the species
       a squirrel has been
running back and forth
       on the rim
of the garden fence
       I’m not sure I know
the purpose of it all
       but does it really matter ?

I have a nodding
       acquaintance
with the cosmos
       I know that energy
is the origin of all life
       and that we all
end our days
       as potash

In the meantime
       we have been granted
the beauty of sight and sound
       and the desire to love
and be loved
       Ownership
possessions
       pass through our hands
Time marks progress
       and decay
each moment is precious
       each step each breath
Only love makes sense
       of a life
only love can hold it
       all together

John Lyons

Love’s promise / La promesse d’amour

irlandesuk poésie, poetry

Magpies do not
sing madrigals –
more reserved
than the thrush
than the sparrow
In this still air
I watch them glide
from one tree
to another barely
a muscle flexed

Treat every day
as the start
of a new year –
the ornithological
perspective
that perpetuates
the good news

If she is heartless
if he is joyless
move on
they are a waste
of daffodils and roses
No kiss can compensate
for the betrayal
of love’s promise

John Lyons

La promesse d’amour

Les pies ne chantent
pas de madrigaux –
plus réservées
que le muguet
que le moineau
Dans cet air calme
je les regarde glisser
d’un arbre
à un autre à peine
un muscle fléchi

Traiter tous les jours
comme le début
d’une nouvelle année –
la perspective ornithologique
qui perpétue
la bonne nouvelle

Si elle a le cœur dur
si lui est sans joie
laisse-les tomber
ils sont une perte
de jonquilles et de roses
Aucun baiser ne peut
compenser la trahison
de la promesse d’amour

The bare bones

irlandesuk poetry

Behind us
the bare bones
of winter

Voluble birdsong
buds about to burst
into leaf and frail
flower

Out with the old love
in with the new
when it comes
to her beauty
I’m all eyes

the soul is not
superficial
it keeps faith
with those
who keep faith

John Lyons

Shake the dust

irlandesuk poésie, poetry , ,

My reflection tells me
that I have aged
my heart tells me
that I have not

I have shrugged off
her ugly betrayal
as I would shake dust
from my shoes

the death of a star
is nothing to lament
in the firmament they are
as fish in the sea

Sparrows sing of roses
there in the bud
of petals about to unfold
new love that spring brings

John Lyons

Secouez la poussière

Mon reflet me dit
que j’ai vieilli
mon coeur me dit
que je n’ai pas

J’ai ignoré
sa vilaine trahison
comme je secouerais la poussière
de mes chaussures

la mort d’une étoile
n’a rien à déplorer –
dans le firmament elles sont
comme des poissons dans la mer

Les moineaux chantent des roses
des boutons sur le point de fleurer
d’un nouvel amour
que le printemps apporte

A chaos of colour

irlandesuk art, poetry

marble

Carrara – a detail, John Lyons (25 x 30 cm, oil on canvas)

A patterned chaos of colour
       on the canvas
oils masquerading as marble
       quarried out of Carrara
a flat surface to be curved
       around a tall column
nano dots of pigment
       bound to the supple fabric
paint applied
       with a flick of the wrist

Somewhere in there
       is the beast I have hunted
all my life
       the image the images
that lie beneath
       art composed according
to first principles –
       acrid smoke rises
in the mouth of the cave
       a community gathers
to feast on the spoils
       of the day

By the light
       of the leaping flames
let us leave history
       on the walls
let us record this day
       for all who follow
in our steps
       let us slay the beast
for all time
       let us slay time

John Lyons

Coffee on the brain

irlandesuk art, poetry ,

coffee_brain

Coffee on the brain
the morning fix
juice from the beans
roasted and ground
to a coarse dust
a planet around which
the addict’s life revolves
those who cannot function
without their regular shots

I have seen the plantations
the huge yards
where the harvested beans
were spread out to dry
in the tropical sun
the terraces of cells
where the slaves slept
the fine house the wealth
all built on the sweat
of so many others’ brows

John Lyons

Days to come

irlandesuk poetry

There is always so much
going on in my mind
a tidal wave of thought
and feelings
from the moment I wake

Two robins are hopping
on the garden wall
the valentine red
of their breasts
bobbing up and down

To them life is a game
but a game that they
will never know
even though the snow
has yet to melt away
completely the robins
know their next move
instinctively – spring
eggs at Easter
and a clutch of eager
mouths to feed

John Lyons

Stars made flesh

irlandesuk poetry

When we reach for the stars
       it’s because that’s where
we wish to return –
       we were born there
that was our first home
       and we’ve travelled so far
through vast glacial expanses
       of deep darkness
just to be here
       just to be now

We are stars made flesh
       and on our faces feel
the cold flakes of snow
       driven in on harsh
Siberian winds –
       and so we hunger
for warmth and the touch
       of another’s hand
ever eager to embrace
       a melting heart

John Lyons

The point of creation

irlandesuk poetry

No lie
no metaphor
to talk of clay
to talk of ash
we are particles
of debris
we rise up
from the earth
with one sole
purpose
that is
to love
to make
of our lives
love
tenderness
comes naturally
as nature is
all-giving

out of the loam
our bones
our skin
a cosmic fabric
hydrogen
oxygen carbon
the building blocks
of life

on your lips
a taste
of the universe
parent
of us all
our atoms born
a breath away
from the point
of creation

John Lyons

Ash of ages

irlandesuk art, poésie, poetry

ash

Ash of ages
the slow descent
light filtered
through darkness
in the beginning
was the end
light burnt
to a cinder
the earth’s
fallen forests

out of the cauldron
these flakes of snow
and magpies
that know nothing
of life or death
foxes that tell
their time by
the sun and moon

ash of ages
the slow descent
of my flesh
of her flesh
pale red lips
that meet in love
life as it was meant
to be loved
love as it was meant
to be lived

John Lyons

Cendres des âges
la lente descente
la lumière filtrée
à travers l’obscurité
au début
était la fin
la lumière brûlée
à une cendre
tombées les forêts
de la terre

hors du chaudron
ces flocons de neige
et les pies
qui ne savent rien
de la vie ou de la mort
les renards qui marquent
l’heure selon
le soleil et la lune

cendres des âges
la lente descente
de ma chair
de sa chair
les pâles lèvres 
qui se touchent en amour
la vie telle qu’elle était censée
d’être aimé
l’amour telle qu’il était censé
d’être vécu