Lilies of the Shallows
Along the canal, they’re hugging the banks,
Keeping well out of the slow shipping-lane –
With gear-stick flower-buds breaking the surface,
Tightly sprouted and yellow-with-purpose.
They open like eye-stalks on periscopes shanks,
While landing-pad leaves are drumming with rain.
Previous blooms are brewing-up brandy
Drawing in bees like a backwater dandy.
