Reposted with image

Orchid

Chaste white orchid
its broad petals

as velvety fans
spread in mock

burlesque 
to conceal

the modesty
of its naked flesh

of which
there is none

a floral dance
that is all show

: that is what
it lives for

it is for that
that it dies

beauty is
its only virtue

its elegance
a single word

no other needed

John Lyons