The clock strikes Christmas
time beats with an open heart
the moon has climbed
to the top of the stairs
I see it through a window
that peeks out into the future
Somewhere a flower is waking
its perfume will soon spread
as its petals open and so deepen
the earth’s unassailable beauty
In every aspect of every star
of every planet you are loved
my hands – simple as they are
were born to adore you everly
John Lyons
Just a figure of speech
there are after all
no big hours
Sometimes I wake
in these small hours
and you are far away
and I love you
wholeheartedly
from a distance
but as deeply as if
you were by my side
asleep in the beauty
of your dreams
and I were watching
the rise and fall
of your breast perhaps
hearing your heart
softly beating for me
John Lyons
A once world
without air
without water
without light
without love
without a ghost
of affection
without a dream
or a song
dayless and
skyless
A once world
incipient
in the cosmos
an expectation
an oceanic silence
without words
without gestures
birth awaiting birth
life awaiting life
a deep darkness
awaiting the star
of Bethlehem
John Lyons
Swear by your blood
that the beauty in life
is nothing less than
life itself
red roses in bloom
the sparrow’s song
lips born to kiss
Swear by your blood
that there is nothing
greater in life
than love
John Lyons
Hope in words
in the goodness
that rises up
out of the earth
The hawk eye
that spied a hawk
one Friday evening
at Earls Court station
a bird out
of its comfort zone
its implacable eyes
scouring for edible life
the poet who places
hope in words
that might carry the mind
to a better place
John Lyons
Think of the earth
as a body
out of which
all bodies arise
think of the earth
as the life of life
of the origin
of all species
think of the earth
as a space in which
all movements
are defined
the motion of words
as much as sparrows
of angels as much
as the easterly wind
think of the earth
as time and consequence
all rolled into one
in separable existence
think of the earth
as our home from home
as the ultimate
alma mater
think of the earth
of a place to love
and to be loved
or be damned
out of friable soil
the red rose
and the beauty
of poetry
John Lyons
This infinite love of but a year
that is larger than time and all other things
This love that is real, and yet, notwithstanding
I scarcely believed existed still.
This love that appeared out of the blue
And that amid the drama became peace
This love that is the tomb wherein
My body lies buried forever.
This love of mine is like a river; an endless
And indolent nocturnal river,
Gliding gently through the wilderness…
And that carries me in its celestial course
aglow with passion in the darkness out
To the endless space of an endless sea.
Vinicius de Moraes
(translation by John Lyons)
Soneto do Amor Como Um Rio
Este infinito amor de um ano faz
Que é maior do que o tempo e do que tudo
Este amor que é real, e que, contudo
Eu já não cria que existisse mais.
Este amor que surgiu insuspeitado
E que dentro do drama fez-se em paz
Este amor que é o túmulo onde jaz
Meu corpo para sempre sepultado.
Este amor meu é como um rio; um rio
Noturno, interminável e tardio
A deslizar macio pelo ermo…
E que em seu curso sideral me leva
Iluminado de paixão na treva
Para o espaço sem fim de um mar sem termo.
Montevideo 1957
Soft glow of light
in the east
as day breaks
I see it through
the naked limbs
of a sycamore
light cloud cover
tinged
with pink
barely a breath
of wind
barely a sound
but for the chatter
of birds
the early risers
I love the simplicity
the blessing
of what it is
to be alive
John Lyons
Silk dresses
out of worms
castings
that enrich
the soil
life that
feeds
on life
beauty is organic
the lip and tongue
of love
from dawn to dusk
how she embodied
my body
we were
as one earth
we are
of one earth
John Lyons
All things age
but age
time simply
is
there are
no repetitions
love too
is of an age
timeless
ageless
all things age
but now
now that is
once and for all
all things age
but love
here now
what is
John Lyons
johnjosephlyons 