Ulysses

Ulysses and the revisitation

irlandesuk poetry , ,

Ulysses and the revisitation

His mind awash with words
           he knew not whence they came
other words
           or others’ words
he knew not
           lapping over him
the pebbles and sand
           white foam
filtering through
           down
under
           and all the years
and all the voices
           heard not in a void
but within a pained
            illuminated word silence
salad days
           promise of youth
great expectations
           and the waters roaring
off the forty-foot
           on a cold December
skies grey
           no bathers that day
his father shivering
           climbed the tower
and gazed out
           the snotgreen sea
read as a timeless book
           mournful
gulls wheeling in the wind
           never again to return
to be sure and knowing
            only what he wanted to do
without doubt
           the lingering kiss
under the volcano
           if only

John Lyons

 

Sailing the ungodly seas

irlandesuk poetry , ,

Sailing the ungodly seas

Put aside the ice and snow
           the cold northerly winds
these incidentals are
           of no consequence
there is a hardness to love
           that will always triumph
over sentimentality
           after all love has its values
and they are unshakeable
           and they can be read
all around us
           and in all our literatures

Love is neither a means
           nor an end
it just is :
           all of us drifters
through this universe
           but love the sole fixed point
it is there in all eloquence
           and in all beauty
it is the truest form of expression
           and never flinches
in the face of adversity
           In a world full of devices
and subterfuge
           love is bare-faced honesty
and it is what makes
           cowards cower

Look to the fractious gods
           who defied Ulysses
but failed to bring him down
           Look to Penelope
her unswerving heart
           a tapestry for all to see
It is the betrayal of love
           that stains the soul
and makes hogs of all
           who fall by the wayside

John Lyons

Aeolus – a first draft

irlandesuk poetry , , , ,

Aeolus – a first draft

The winedark sea that Homer saw
         only in his imagination
the sea that Ulysses sailed
         en route to Troy
a man both mortal and immortal
         one inseparable from the other
a man and his destiny
         laurel leaves and the bitter taste
of unripe olives
         such a tale from the cocoon
of his blindness

Art is from the eyes
         it is perception and intuition
a hunger for human narrative
         for what will make sense
of a universe in which meaning
         is neither here nor there

Fate spins
         and everywhere is felt
the footfall of the gods
         Aeolus a draft
driven by a line from Pindar
         What is a man
but a dream of a shadow
         his splendour
but a gift of the heavens
         Say nothing of love

John Lyons