The Miraculous Gift of the Lily

In that land, everyone
Was handed a lily,
Which was a miracle,

So they felt, since no one
Really knew where lilies
Grew or why they lasted

A lifetime in that land.
You could give the lily
Away, but only once.

Young people didn’t think
Much about their lilies,
Toyed with them casually.

Old people were obsessed.
They’d hung on to the gift
So long, and they were proud

Of their sorry lilies,
And they knew they’d have to
Give them up sometime soon,

But having clung to them
So long made the losing
That much more difficult.

When to give a lily
Away? When was the best
Possible time to give,

What was the finest way?
And then, after all that,
Most of them just lost them,

Or dropped them by mistake,
Or let them drift away.
Rivers were choked with them,

In that land, some evenings,
Lilies drifting away,
Giving the illusion

That many lilies could
Be offered, when only
One left anyone once.