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
Let nothing
but leaves
fall in
the forests
of Ukraine
nor in the cities
nor in the ports
Let no boast
of Russian blood
soil the soil
Let the wisdom
of trees prevail
Let peace stifle
war’s angry breath
Let nothing
but leaves
or rose petals
fall on Ukraine
John Lyons
Yellow door, John Lyons (40 x 40 cm, oil on canvas)
Hope in doors
hope in gates
a yellow door
in a sea of blue
soft light of the sun
reverberating
on the surface
all paths lead
to her heart
on both sides
hearts depart
a single plane
a single hope
a single key
key to her heart
John Lyons
Blue door, John Lyons (40 x 40 cm, oil on canvas)
If I told you
If I told
If I told you
would you like it
would you ?
A play not on words
but a play in words
In space words
In time words
If I found them
my feelings
If I found them
and if I told you
If I told
would you like it
would you ?
Played out
in rooms
sitting
dining
bed and
bathroom
One door leads
to another
and another
and another
all our lives
windows and doors
One door
on either side
entrance and exit
coming and going
first to last
If I told you
If I told
If I told you
would you like it
would you ?
John Lyons
(revised)
Green mountain, John Lyons (40 x 40 cm, oil on canvas)
What vanity to imagine
I can give you everything, love and happiness,
itineraries, music, toys.
It’s true this is how it is:
all I have, I give to you, it’s true,
but all I have is not enough for you
just as it’s not enough for you to give me
all you have.
So we’ll never be
the perfect couple, the picture postcard,
if we’re unable to accept
that only in arithmetic
does one plus one make two.
Scribbled on a scrap of paper
that merely says:
You were always my mirror,
What I mean is, I had to look at you to see myself.
And this fragment:
The slow machine of disaffection
the gears of reflux
bodies that abandon the pillows,
the sheets the kisses
and standing before the mirror each one
self-questioning
no longer facing each other
no longer naked for each other
I no longer love you,
my love.
Julio Cortázar
(translation by John Lyons)
Night dance, John Lyons (70 x 50 cm, oil on canvas)
After hours
light fading
lone dancer
bounds across
the stage
Carnival masquerade
in a Venetian palace
Slow drift of time
through cloistered
canals : lovers cross
the Bridge of Sighs
Que será será
Que será será
John Lyons
The dark side of coffee, John Lyons
It could after all
have been
blades of grass
rather than leaves
the cutting edge
of poetry
in a brave new world
Love is child’s play
innocent as the day
is long : and a poem
is so many words
immersed in silence
as Gertrude said
it’s a meeting place
where everything
is on the table
so bring your appetites
All I know is that
when I said
what I meant
I meant
what I said
You are no flower
you are no blossom
no alabaster neck
no peachy skin
you are the flesh
of my blood
the blood
of my flesh
my love incarnate
Look to the heavens
I have counted the stars
all present and correct
nothing dies forever
John Lyons
Can someone
please explain
why the world
is always
so
up
in the
air ?
John Lyons
The other door, John Lyons (40 x 40 cm, oil on canvas)
This is the other door
that nobody sees
that nobody chooses
the other door
to which other paths
never reach
this is the other door
behind which
another life lurks
the door untested
the door untried
the alpha the omega
to the moon and stars
that promise love
John Lyons
Fire, John Lyons (acrylic on paper)
Marks on paper
or on canvas
that hold
the energy
of the stroke
muscular
action art
creating shapes
in space
adding colour
that activates
the retina induces
a reaction
a change
starlight depicts
warm starlight
with movements
that alter
the cosmos
just as silence
is sound
sometimes richer
than any melody
words driven
by the power
of thought
and feeling
a beauty that stirs
passions within
body and soul
nothing human
ever lifeless
John Lyons
johnjosephlyons 