Water Lilies and Geraniums in July

 

Water Lilies and Geraniums in July

 

by Alice Jane-Marie Massa

 

 

Who declared the water lily

the birth flower of July?

As a child of six or seven,

I first remember seeing the lily pads

on the goldfish pond ,

over which was a wooden foot-bridge,

at Roselawn Cemetery.

The delicate blossoms floating

on their pads

seemed so exotic to me.

 

Then, this week,

almost six decades later,

I read an article in orion

about the Giant Amazonian Water Lily,

whose pad measures,

in diameter,

ten feet–

much too large for the goldfish pond at Roselawn.

 

The bud of the

Giant Amazonian Water Lily

is the size of a Hoosier basketball,

but Larry Bird would not dare dribble

nor try for a three-pointer

with this magical, midnight bloom.

 

Ambrosia-scented,

the bountiful bud first opens with petals

of white

and only at night.

 

Scarab beetles,

scientists, or botanists

pollenate the Giant Lily

before it shuts tight

to avoid favoring its beauty

in common daylight.

 

The second opening night,

the Giant Amazonian Water Lily

changes its dress

to pink

and increases the temperature

of the pineapple-scented air in its surroundings

eleven degrees , Celsius.

 

What a spectacular work

of Mother Nature!

However, I will dote on my

pink and white geraniums

whose flowers,

so abundant in this July,

do not wait until midnight

to show off

their Midwest-sized,

Heartland beauty.

 

 

NOTE: Richard Mabey’s article “Midnight Bloom,” published in the May-June, 2015 issue of Orion magazine, inspired this poem.

 

Enjoy the flowers of summer!

Alice and Zoe

 

July 22, 2015, Wednesday

 

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