Entrapment

How clear
           on this bright morning
the fine fibres
           spun by industrious spiders
the silky threads of light
           strung from beam to beam
from wall to wall
           weightless lines of beauty
that colonise the thin air
           and are there
to entangle if not to entice
           the most innocent of prey
the aphid and the mosquito
           the bluebottle fly
all grisly grist
           to that particular mill

John Lyons

Renewal

On such a beautiful day
blue cloudless sky
a benevolent sun
everywhere you look
people with smiles
on their faces
and a spring in their step
as though the entire
population has been
removed overnight
and replaced by
a whole horde
of happy souls
full of the joys
of life

John Lyons

Reclaim the night

Last night a clear sky
and a full moon

woke in the early hours
heard the screech of foxes

a rabble formed
at the end of the garden

it seemed to go on
forever

and then suddenly
it stopped

but who knows what plot
they were hatching

John Lyons

Cosmic economies

What wisdoms exist
           to fill the thin years
of false economies
           what prudence is there
to protect the body politic
           when all seems blotched and botched :
our dreams are not dysfunctional
           though our actual words and deeds
may well be so though it is a failure
           not of surfaces but of systems

We are all of consequence
           from the moment we take
our first gasp of air
            innocents all
scouring creation
           for a book of revelations
but we are all necessary journey
           and transformation
and our electrons will live forever
           within the hawk or sparrow
or the iridescent dragonfly
           that skims the shimmering
summer waters and transcend
           the dreary bond of time
that momentarily anchors
           our dust to the day

John Lyons

Identities

We are of the earth and yet
subject to the same first principles

fragments of an expanding cosmos
driven by the same waves of energy

that created the fox and the badger
the rose and the lilies in the field

we are flotsam and jetsam
atomic debris attuned to time

and conditioned to pursue
truth and beauty and to romance

this fragile world with our words
voices crying out in the wilderness

John Lyons

Of no consequence

A plump black cat with a white belly
           stands on the garden wall
and has a good look around
           it can hear a bird chirping
pneumatically in a bush close by
           Today the sun is up
it’s going to be a scorcher
           the cat is there on the wall
indecisively surveying the scene
           taking mental notes or
sketching out a plan for the day
            Scarcely a single lilac bloom
has survived the onslaught
           of the oxidising air that has
turned them all to rusty combs
           soon to be dust : let that
be a lesson to us all— they don’t
           come any clearer

John Lyons

Last night you called

Last night you called and I’m sorry
           that I missed you
I was working all evening
           and wasn’t expecting a call
because mostly you don’t call
           when you’re away
though last night you did
           but I didn’t hear the phone
because my head was buried
           in my work : so much to do

and so I missed your call
           and I’m really sorry
because it would’ve been
           so nice to hear your voice
and to know what you’ve been up to
           and how you’re doing
and things like that but I’d no idea
           you’d call because
so often you don’t :
           so at the end of the evening
/really far too late/
           I was surprised when
I noticed I’d missed
           an unexpected call
from you
            — I’m so sorry

John Lyons