Easter Lillies

For a long time she stood at the flower shop window The daffodils dearest at this time of year Inside, she handed her purse on the counter "I want to buy all of the daffodils here" By her eyes it was plain to see she'd been crying As she turned back a strand of loose hair from her face "I want to spend all of my money on flowers And I need every daffodil here in this place" Clutching her harvest, a corn sheaf of flowers She clambered aboard the late rush-hour tram And by Schweigaardsgate a small pool of water Had formed on the floor as it wrung from her hands It just seemed to add to the lost look about her As the grey rambling city went rumbling past She sat like a small child, testing for butter Her face lit in yellow from the flowers tightly clasped Once in her apartment, she lay down the blooms And divided them up into glasses and jars Till daffodils filled every space in the room Then she lit every candle she found in the house She bathed and she dressed and popped open champagne Which made pigeons fly from her windowsill And closing the curtains on birds in the rain She stood among flickering daffodils Surrounded and centred, she pondered her feelings Sofa'd and cushioned, on feathers she lay Holding on to the pillows, lest she float to the ceiling And just like the cigarette smoke drift away She wondered just where the wind might deliver An unwritten letter, a torn envelope All candlelight-warm, she suddenly shivered And the yellow flowers shimmered in brightness and hope