poet & painter
ORCHID
Fabled fl ower of far off lands,
I know who’s quill did on thy petal scratch a scribble,
And, on your three pages, did with signature encrypt,
All the wonder’s of the world, by rebus and by riddle.
Take me on a journey to thy heart,
Where moonbeams dance on miniscule mosaics of
shimmering silk,
Amid shadows cast by bowing colonnades,
Embalmed with opiates of sweet pollonia milk,
Deep into the mottled maze,
Refl ected in a small songbirds eye,
Through the mirrored morning clouds
On lazy forest rivers drifting by.
Settle me down to dream fi lled slumber,
Within the curling labellum of thy velvet bower,
Neath spangling seas of sliding stars,
Where tides stand motionless, and measureless, is the
hour.
Absorb me as you would a dewdrop,
Into your texture and your vibrant hues,
Reveal to me your very essence,
Where mystery and memory fuse
Lure me into the lace like labyrinth,
Where many coloured path do cross,
And your ancient secret lies unseen,
Behind fl imsy veils of jade green moss.
Temptress of the tropics, unfold to me
That garden through and beyond the steamy dew,
The mirage that eye and dream have never seen,
Yet, once was home to you.
Until the shades of night fi rst fell,
When doubt was born, and all were doomed to leave,
Then were you stolen away from Eden,
A memento of lost paradise, clasped gently to the
breast of Eve.
The fusion of poetry and painting has been a hallmark of John's work for the last 10 years with the poem written reverso on the panel these works are much sort after.