Say Then, It Was A Lily Twice Given....

Say then it was a lily twice-given
to me.
The first, that lily you gave me
At the dawn of our acquaintance with each other,
As you gave each of us a lily that day of your inauguration
Into the portals of fame,
Born of your graces,
So heaped one upon the other,
All of us, as we were, so enamoured
Of you.
As lovers and artists are wont to do.

The second lily...
Given so personally, intimately, so finally,
To me.
Your arm stretching out,
Your tears pearled-hard,
Your breath choked.
It sits now, my twice-given lily, upon my table.
Transformed.
A tear, beaded silver, falls presently from a petal.
Love crystalized?
Friends ask of this lily, twice-given...
Is it "real?" as when flowers blush, sun stroked,
and my smile, in response, is forever enigmatic.

For Sheila

Alan John Barrett
Ottawa ON