Author: irlandesuk

L’univers symbiotique

irlandesuk poésie, poetry

Nous cultivons les étoiles
       en reconnaissance de la terre
qu’elles nous ont donnée
       le sol minéral à partir duquel
toutes choses poussent
       les plantes et les arbres
qui sont notre force vitale
       l’univers symbiotique
qui nous lie au chant du moineau
       au baryton profond de la baleine
aux premiers sanglots d’un nouveau-né
       qui quitte le ventre de sa mère
Et il n’y a pas une seule forme de beauté
       supérieure à toutes les autres
étant donné que la beauté est la vérité
       essentielle omniprésente de la création
et que l’amour est son expression
       la plus profonde

John Lyons

Love’s deepest expression

We cultivate the stars
       in recognition of the earth
that they have given us
       the mineral soil out of which
all things grow
       the plants and trees
that are our very lifeblood
       the symbiotic universe
that binds us
       to the sparrow’s song
to the whale’s deep baritone
       to the first sobs of a newborn
as it leaves its mother’s womb
       and there is no one form of beauty
superior to all the others
       given that beauty is the essential
omnipresent truth of creation
       and love is its deepest expression

Love’s deepest expression

irlandesuk poésie, poetry

We cultivate the stars
       in recognition of the earth
that they have given us
       the mineral soil out of which
all things grow
       the plants and trees
that are our very lifeblood
       the symbiotic universe
that binds us
       to the sparrow’s song
to the whale’s deep baritone
       to the first sobs of a newborn
as it leaves its mother’s womb
       and there is no one form of beauty
superior to all the others
       given that beauty is the essential
omnipresent truth of creation
       and love is its deepest expression

John Lyons

L’expression la plus profonde de l’amour

Nous cultivons les étoiles
       en reconnaissance de la terre
qu’elles nous ont donnée
       le sol minéral à partir duquel
toutes choses poussent
       les plantes et les arbres
qui sont notre force vitale
       l’univers symbiotique
qui nous lie au chant du moineau
       au baryton profond de la baleine
aux premiers sanglots d’un nouveau-né
       qui quitte le ventre de sa mère
Et il n’y a pas une seule forme de beauté
       supérieure à toutes les autres
étant donné que la beauté est la vérité
       essentielle omniprésente de la création
et que l’amour est son expression
       la plus profonde

A question of foxes

irlandesuk poetry

At dawn the foxes
       chatting away
at the end
       of the garden

to me it’s a cacophonous
       high-pitched screech
to them I’m sure
       it’s music to their ears

I wonder about
       their vocal chords
how many words
       they are able

to enunciate and
        whether they’re able
to formulate questions
       or express their feelings

John Lyons

A colourful love affair

irlandesuk art, poetry

gestation

           Gestation, John Lyons (50 x 70 cm, oil on canvas)

This is how it begins
       less an idea than an embryo
what it is and what it will be
       who knows ?
What colours and shapes and textures
       remain to be seen

As it stands
       the easy stage is complete
where anything can go right
       because there’s everything
to play for : the black mixed
       with two shades of blue
the cadmium yellow cut
       with a little burnt umber

I now need to hold back
       to listen to the canvas
to turn it this way and that
       scrutinise it
from every angle for days
       or even weeks on end
before further decisions
       are taken

In time it’ll tell me
       what it wants to express
and I trust
       as always
that it’ll keep me
       in the frame

Can one fall in love
       with cadmium yellow
or the cadmium red
       that is currently absent
making the heart
       grow fonder ?

Playful or serious
       there’ll be a message
but it’ll string me along
       keep me on my toes
until it finally decides
       to reveal all

John Lyons

Coffee bones

irlandesuk art, poetry ,
archaeology
Coffee bones, John Lyons (30 x 30 cm, coffee grounds and oil on canvas)

Bones that yearn
for other bones
out of the earth
into the earth

coffee grounds
and yellow cadmium
eyes turning
one toward the other

only love heals
the scars left
by love

winsome
her hazel eyes
her lips
a celebration

love woven
on the loom
of her life

bones
and the echo
of other bones
long gone

Venus sidles up
to the moon
and for a brief
moment

it illuminates
their love
their bodies turning
in unison

time will one day
sweep them away
for ever conjoined
their dust

their bones
laid to rest
for a single
eternity

John Lyons

With my emerald eyes

irlandesuk poetry

The chestnut the oak
       the elm the ash
have soaked up
       the night’s rain
So easy on the eye
       their lush green leaves
so peaceful and majestic
       as they winnow the wind

Eloquent in their intelligence
       they speak of the beauty of life
that never really fades
       With exemplary endurance
they guide us through
       the deepest tests of time
Ever present ever faithful
       they line our horizons
circumspect and generous
       and absolutely undemanding

Under willow one evening
       I lay and looked up
through the slender branches
       and saw my star trace
a path across the sky
       and that night I dreamt
of you and all the love
       we once shared

John Lyons

How her garden grew

irlandesuk poetry

A poem about the space
       that we create
in our lives
       distances and proximities
boundaries we set
       permissions we grant or deny
allowing someone into our lives
       or keeping them at arm’s distance

inner and outer space
       the preservation of territories
of the heart and mind
       as much as bodily

a bed of roses with thorns
       beneath the blooms
but nothing ventured –
       traceries and markings
the vertical soul
       tattooed with experience
what came with her kiss
       what necessary words
and how did they live
       and how did they die ?

The oblique blue sky sustained
       between the branches
of oak and elder
       and at night in the blackness
a crown of constellations
       a whisper of winds
shuffles the leaves
       I remember her breath
brushing against my cheek
       I remember how we put
time to the sword
       and how her garden grew

John Lyons

The kiss

irlandesuk art, poetry

lovers_2

            Lovers, John Lyons (50 x 50 cm, oil on canvas)

An aerial view
of the lie

of the land
lovers locking

into a kiss
a port of call

a docking
one delicately

poised above
another

a passage
through time

a navigation
of narrow straits

John Lyons

Why sparrows sing

irlandesuk poetry ,

That they love the sound
of their own voices
why sparrows sing
that they dance
during courtship
for no other reason
than to enthral a mate

and why poets have words
to sing of the life of being
of crocuses that emerge
out of the winter soil
and how the earth wraps itself
in bridal blossom
with desire running
through all things
and memory
as Marcel said
is resurrection
the past that trails
behind us but never dies

Smoke dissipates
in the pale sky
and nature’s appetite
knows no surfeit
enough is never enough
Through green growth
we rise up towards the sun
our bodies burning
our breath panting
our arms outstretched
our souls aching for love

John Lyons

The deep roots of love

irlandesuk poetry ,

Strip away the intricacies
of appearance
strip away the complexities
of the world
and live in the simplicity
of the moment

Though we are born
into the nucleus of time
we outgrow it as we move
deeper into love
and learn to revel
in all its enchantments

In love we no longer live
in the silence of self
and every kiss given
and every kiss received
reverberates
down the generations
as a natural truth

There is nothing to own here
but everything to be —
triumphant in the abandonment
of all that is false and pointless :
just as we respect the oak
and the sycamore let us admire
the deep roots of enduring love

John Lyons