Nothing fades

Nothing fades like flowers
nothing lives like love

so the luscious white lilies
have withered and dried

after a week in which they lived
their full-funnelled glory

The sag and droop of age
the tissues wrinkled

the leaves that have begun
to detach and litter

the base of the vase :
the purest of beauties

has had its day of universal
admiration and with a sigh

must now be discarded
its remains bundled

sadly out of sight
but love will survive

this minor tragedy
love will survive

there is no comparison
none at all

John Lyons