Philadelphicum

Yesterday
Sitting beside my garden
I happened a glance
As I do between pages of my book
And thoughts of meditating
(An oxymoron certainly)

I caught sight of
Broad orange petals
Flashy purple stamens
A lily of sorts
Where
Yesterday
Had been a bud

Lilium philadelphicum,
I later learned
Spectacular with those delicate purple spots
In a sea of nearly yellow at the start of each petal
Near the ovary

Gazing
I saw beside it
Its sister
Still demure

I wound my way around the wire fences
I’d put into the garden
To keep out whatever critters
Had eaten the tops off all my tomato plants
And devoured all the pansy blossoms
Over the weekend

And sat
Waiting
Beside the columbines

There
Before my eyes
As the sun made a show of her sister’s wild hue

This shy one
Spread her petals—a larghetto of motion
Then popped open
With an audible puff

Today
A sparrow at my elbow
Drinking
Having wound my way again around the wire fences
I sit beside another chartreuse and orange bud
Waiting for beauty to explode again.