Stargazers
.
Freshly cut from a local greenhouse,
their aroma perfumes my apartment -
nectar with a hint of cayenne -
a scent that takes me back to childhood
when they grew in mom's lily garden
below the stone wall in the back yard,
proud stalks of them among Turk's cap
and other Asian varieties,
buds that happened to mature each year
in the middle of summer
right as the Perseid shower began -
petals open on a humid night,
a dozen upturned blossoms
watching meteors streak across the sky.
.
Freshly cut from a local greenhouse,
their aroma perfumes my apartment -
nectar with a hint of cayenne -
a scent that takes me back to childhood
when they grew in mom's lily garden
below the stone wall in the back yard,
proud stalks of them among Turk's cap
and other Asian varieties,
buds that happened to mature each year
in the middle of summer
right as the Perseid shower began -
petals open on a humid night,
a dozen upturned blossoms
watching meteors streak across the sky.
.