Poem: "The Bouquet of Lilies"

The Bouquet of Lilies

The bouquet of lilies smiles brightly!
It flaunts its youth, growing old quickly.
Its hands reach in vain, slumping ...
It is love grown from a thawed heart,
Thoughtfulness brimming a mind of ice,
The embodiment of foreign languages,
The gartered limb of an angel,
The image of a wine bottle's breath,
The tune that dawn whistles,
A dripping cyclone of candies,
A garden writhing in a straitjacket ...
It shyly models its crystal corset,
One moment in a kaleidoscope's head;
Uncorked, artistic repression ...
Although some droop dead from gallows,
Other buds burst open like morning skies,
And blossoms splash the air with fragrances.
Their exhalations are perfumed ...
Yes, those little fleshly fists open up,
Unhanding rich whiffs to the world.
Some flowers are inverted, hanging
Like lanterns, lighting the dark
Neighborhood of my desk.
Their stems shoot off fireworks! --
Stems of asparagus down a limpid throat;
I see a glassy hug squeezing spinach.
Each lily is a daybreak over a green sea,
A white star hovering above the water,
Or a starfish leaping out of it!
The tornado of leaves swirls skyward!
Those aquatic bubbles are traveling up ...
The bouquet is a florally gloved hand
Beckoning, wooing eyes and hearts.
Floods of velvet, vanilla nebulae ...
The lilies weep thick green tears,
Moaning their potent scents,
Snowed upon by baby's-breath ...
This dreamy bouquet is the poem
Which the vase has spoken --
That trumpet blares beauty!
Pink tongues everywhere
Sing passionate songs,
And red uvulas trill!
Marilyn's skirts still blow!
Flowering phonographs
Play their melodies!
The Ferris wheel
Of foliage spins!

^{©2018 - This is copyrighted material, a poem from my new book, "Poems of a Prodigal." It was part of my "trinity of bouquets" series last year (see the poems "A Vase's Dream" and "The Red Roses" at my blog). I hope you enjoyed it! Photo is Public Domain.}