Poetics

Out of sea foam
love formed
not a word
not a notion
but a home
for life

roses fade
and die
not love
it persists

paradise is a person
and a shared path
never to be taken
for granted

John Lyons

The absent mind (deleted)

This poem was a draft for a longer sequence of poems entitled Tooley Street

Autumn 2

After early morning rain
           a short walk through the woods
summer on the cusp
           the pitter patter of acorns
raining down
           and then suddenly
the distinctive ra-ta-tat-tat
           of a woodpecker :
its beak beating on the bark
           in search of a grub

I gaze up at the dense green canopy
           but cannot see a thing : pitter patter
ra-ta-tat-tat : pitter patter
           ra-ta-tat-tat

John Lyons

Autumn

After the early morning rain
           a short walk
through the woods
           on the cusp of autumn
and all around
           acorns raining down
pitter patter pitter patter
           pitter patter pitter patter

then all of a sudden
           comes the distinctive
ra-ta-tat ra-ta-ta-tat
           of a woodpecker :
its beak beating the bark
           ra-ta-tat ra-ta-ta-tat

I gaze up
           at the dense green foliage
but can’t see a thing
           Ra-ta-tat ra-ta-ta-tat
ra-ta-tat ra-ta-ta-tat
           pitter patter pitter patter

John Lyons

The apple tree

Year in year out
the apple tree
blossoms in spring
and by the end
of summer
its branches hang
heavy with fruit

Year in year out
autumn strips
the tree of its leaves
and thus it endures
the winter naked
and forlorn
its branches trembling
in the biting wind

But come spring. . .

John Lyons

Simply said

A life played by ear
           hark to what I say
wherever the feet lead us
           we respond to words
or to the intimation of words
           all things labeled
and described
           catalogued

How the universe
           longed for language
and for the relationships
           it enables and fosters
the thoughts and dreams
           and the acts of love

Our prayers fly up
           our words remain
among the simplicities
           of the rose
and the comfort
           of lips touching

John Lyons

Outpourings

The image of a voice
how can that be ?
sound that conveys
sight or vice versa

Paradise
is a word mouthed
as is love :
lips that evolved
to enable the kiss

And the wagging tongue
loose within
the buccal cavity
fraught with danger

The weight of history
moving between
the two banks of the river 
O how they’ve changed
over time

The rise and sink of life
and she marooned there
on the margins of that place
Mudflats when the tide recedes

A river pours into
its own mouth
and disappears

John Lyons

The swan 2

With immaculate
white wings
the swan thrashes
the river surface
at Henley

before regaining
its elegant poise
proud of the space
it occupies
in its succinct
universe

John Lyons