Tower Bridge

On the night shift

irlandesuk art, poetry

shift
                                                   Universe, John Lyons (30 x 25 cm, oil on canvas)

On the night shift
       my mind is slower
more in tune
       with the stars

Look how long it took
       for the universe
to shape our world
       for the sea to separate
from the land
       for human life
to evolve
       for you and I to meet
to walk hand in hand
       across Tower Bridge

On the night shift
       my breathing is slower
I have been known
       to doze the hours away
to dream that you
       are still there
by my side and that
       time will in time
repair every injury
       to my soul

John Lyons

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Occasional verse

irlandesuk poetry

Occasional verse

         Downriver
where the gun-metalled waters
flow under Tower Bridge
I stared into her star-kindled eyes
felt love’s blissful palpitation
in the blood

         Crimson fringes
tinged the evening sky
while white gulls whirled above

         Like nothing are the joys
of her lip-lingering kiss
like nothing the saving grace
of her soft breath

         Banished
the mortal lullabies of pain
in this ungainly space
of cruel contraries
and smitten by the blade
of love unmade
I bowed in sweet surrender

John Lyons