Here is a new world
created by chance
as all worlds are
depicted on taut hide
the coloured elements
of a rare earth
scars in the cosmos
in which it floats
its geometric perfection
at odds with its universe
to believe that therein
bees and butterflies exist
and seeds and flowers
and what when two
people come together
is known as love
John Lyons
If you appreciate the smell
of linseed oil then yes
there is a certain fragrance
to this canvas
that may well linger
when we are long gone
But what have we here
a study of sky and ocean
and a glimpse
of the shore’s anatomy
an imagination bound
by crude physical dimensions
all of us ultimately born
out of the sea and the stars
our origins staring us
daily in the face
the cycles and the tides
foam on the shores
of the universe
more questions than answers
a mystery to ourselves
who want only for love
John Lyons
We all like a little excitement
perhaps a night on the town
hair done so we look our best
add a little personal colour
to stand out from the crowd
We’re all looking for love
or at the least some social acceptance
None of us wants to be eaten alive
or to return crestfallen at dawn
our hopes & dreams crushed underfoot
John Lyons
Revised
Two figures
drained of colour
sepia with just a hint
of blue
Sometimes more
is less
sometimes less
is more
Art is evocation
it suggests :
when it seeks to impose
it overpowers
in that way
art resembles
relationships
and love
in which
tenderness
and gentleness
are its strengths
John Lyons
A thousand choices
but nothing random
in the distribution of blues
and yellows and burnt umber
along with white and grey cells
but the entire composition
irrigated by the red capillaries
that bind the composition
together while allowing
the light to shine through
John Lyons
Corrected
In painting as in music and literature
what is often called abstract
is little more than a figurative representation
of a more delicate more difficult reality
less visible to the naked eye
Clarice Lispector
No words required!
Contemplate in silence
a rectangular canvas
washed in mustard yellow
there is nothing there
but the surface
and the dimensions
and a few imperceptible
flaws in the fabric
nothing to distract the eye
no composition
nor any relationships
other than with the space
crowded around
the four sides
of this object
of artistic intention
Make of it
what you will
it took almost a lifetime
to complete
Make of that
what you will
John Lyons
From a blank canvas
two ghostly figures emerge
nameless
faceless —
we know nothing
of where they’re coming from
know nothing
of where they’re heading
Heaven and earth appear to be aligned
but what is
this couple’s relationship
and what would they say
if they had words to tell ?
Brushed in ochre
shrouded in space
surrounded by silence
they are an enigma
of the imagination
John Lyons
Revised
who made the leap
from hunting gathering
to hand prints
bison and antelopes
on the cave wall
and Jackson Pollock
scouring a white canvas
prowling back and forth
waiting to pounce
to lunge at the surface
in stabbing motions
to open wounds
that drip
with colour
John Lyons
johnjosephlyons 