Grecian Urn revisited

It is the intensity
         the thingness
of made objects
         that Keats captured
in his Grecian Urn
         an energy that derives
not merely
         from the simplicities
of the bridal narrative
         nor the implied music
piped down the centuries
         but from the density
of time manifest
         in the vessel
forever shaped
         by the potter’s
temporal hand
         the craftsman
who one day rose
         from his bed
and set about
         his daily work
to fabricate eternity

Art first and foremost
         is a matter
of shaping matter
         whether it be out of air
or stone or words or clay
         or the dance
of thought and movement
         across space and time

Art is the quintessential
         labour of love – that is –
a necessary confection
         of heart and soul
Form is creation
         the means by which
we elevate our humanity
         above the senselessness
of nature 

Form predicates relationship
         structures shaped
from elemental content
         It is we – by the way –
who bestow beauty
         on the rose

Creation alters by adding
         to our condition
It despises the replica
         scorns the dullness of duplication
it animates the affirmation
         of beauty’s truth
silence begone
         stasis
there is none
         all things express
—the status quo
         is a lie

John Lyons