IRIS

Divine Messenger, lucent fruit of celestial union,
her wings fulgurate dewy gold.

Armfuls of Elysian blossoms she gathers, Heaven's
gardens scours for its finest hues.

O'er jewelled crescents she earthward glides, bearing
fulsome treasures of myriad tones.

Her iridescent form skims dewdrops, splashes 'pon
Earth paradise's fulgent bouquets. 

Molten stains effuse from her lips as she dives into
fragrant heather, stipples stargazers' petals.

Cyan drops she drips onto butterflies' dainty wings,
the lark's throat with silver suffuses.

Varicoloured melismata encircle groves, interlace
as many-hued silken ribbons.

O'er meadows and hillsides her radiant bounty she
rains, fallen leaves anoints with gold.

Choicest tints 'pon her namesakes she confers, their
cascading frills dark embroiders.

A rainbow chaplet of irises adorns her brow, their fey
snow-white sister in her heart aglow.

Wisdom, faith, hope and eloquence 'pon mankind she
bestows, her vital streams our animas fecundate.

Our darkest hours she renders bright, gracious bids 
us surrender to the song of the Universe.

© 2014 Lily's Verse

Lilium Candidum

Image: IRIS
Source: www.the-athenaeum.org
Artist: John Atkinson Grimshaw

SENTENCED

A baneful maternal benediction as I lisped
my first syllable mentored my faltering
baby steps to perdition.

 To empty silences, I made vows of grey
ere reason bloomed,
solemn tenets branded upon my mourning
spirit, weeping scars never to heal.

An ashen sparrow among radiant songbirds
enshrouded in echoes of its own dirge
rends its pinions, mutes its song.

I meander, faceless, silently stealing 
frugal breaths, a spectre dwindling noiselessly, 
disregarding the air's gentle chiding.

Waxen words issue from my bloodless lips,
weave a cage of arabesques around 
my indistinct form, their steel tempered
in furnaces of my own helpless rage.

A lavender breeze blows through my ribs,
this fleshless form would hold scarce 
an atom of its scent.

Sallow waves flood my dreams, buffet my
dark white shape. I would be one with
this pallid ocean, never more to wake.

© 2014 Lily's Verse

Lilium Candidum

Image: THE SLEEP
Source: isaacpante.net
Artist: Alphonse Eugene Lecadre

ARTIST II

An ocean's depth in a droplet,

the Universe in an infant's eyes;

darkness' plangent, immanent gleam,

death-song of a leaf as it flies

Chords afire, hues of melodies,

cosmic strains 'pon golden rays borne;

quietude in the depths of clangour,

pith of shadows, illusion of form

River's bliss as it meets the sea,
Rainbow's melisma, path of a gale;

Zephyrus's dance o'er dawn-lit petals,
dandelions' musing 'pon lace clocks pale

Chime of bluebells, plush of coxcombs,
lushness of berries, scent of roses;
spectre of Sun in moonflowers' hearts,
glow of dusk as she Earth encloses

Might of dragonflies' fragile wings,
tenderness of verdure newly sprung;
epistle of glowworms' sparkle,
echoes of plaintive airs unsung

Softness of stone, fastness of sand,

blossoms' drifting thro' sylvan themes;

clouds in oceans of sky aswim,

portrait of ether, pulse of moonbeams

Soul's desires ere man's heart knows,

wretchedness of minds confounded;

frayed spirits in resurrection,

prisms of love and joy unbounded -

Such riches of Time and Life he limns,
man's darkness its peace accords;
his soul to the Circle's rhythm attunes,
his quest for rebirth rewards.

Truth his somnolent journeys guides,
'pon waking he dreams recurring dreams;
his self from himself sets apart,
so man may voyage o'er Muses' streams.

The reveal'd he renders fairer,

to the Invisible unbars doors;

Art and Nature he e'er exalts,

us to ourselves restores.

© 2014 Lily's verse

Lilium Candidum

Image: ALLEGORY OF PAINTING
Source: www.pinterest.com
Artist: Rosalba Carriera

ARTIST I

On time's wings borne aloft, his being glides,
as a condor soars to ages and climes
earthly eyes ne'er may behold. 

Verity for his companion, Techne, his guide,
on a lifelong odyssey he embarks, 
rainbows fashions into dreams and passions.
 
Thro' Heaven's calm he journeys, thro' Hell's ire, 
into Nature's pulchritude and her unbridled fury.

Art would he revere, to her glory his every breath
pledged, this divine purpose the Muses bless.

"Be as a lake, calm or unstill, burnished or bleak, 
that mortals may glimpse 
some reflected gleam of celestial perfection, 
Styx's grim countenance descry."

Hues of nightingales' song, opaline sparkle of
Spring showers, primrose of innocent laughter,
moonglow of mother's embrace, ingenue's blush,
swans' silken glissade, his palette ennoble.

Pristine poise of blooming buds, tranquil warmth 
of golden flames, elysian twirls of snowy doves
weaving in flight, felicity of hopes and dreams
fulfilled, fragrance of innocence, his studies adorn.

Death throes of the fallen, wrath of a maelstrom,
bitterness of love unrequited, hatred's ravaging
revels, scourge of injustice, bane of iniquity, his
canvases can scarce contain.

Each rendering a sacred offering, this fervent 
prayer he unfailing utters: Shape and form as I
portray, may soul and inscape shine forth,
Creation's heartbeat my every brush stroke grace.

© 2014 Lily's Verse

Lilium Candidum

Image source: commons.wikimedia.org
'The Art of Painting'
Artist: Johannes Vermeer

MORNING GLORY

Pearlescent throats to dawn's notes
tuned, the Day Star they await;
rapturous unfurl their petal skirts,
swathes of earthly Milky Way.

Nacreous trumpets herald morning's
advent, a new day's rident lay;
lustrous bells twirl in His light,
their swansong to chant ere midday.

Butterflies, hummingbirds, gather in
praise, on shimmering salvers rest;
floral dainties gaily savour, 
to Nature's vagaries attest.

Showers of gold fill opal chalices,
amber wreathes silvern rims;
still they drink, for life athirst,
its splendour, alas, soon to dim.

All His light they desire, as though
to contain his fiery sphere;
his radiance in hearts enclose,
for to sustain when death be near.

© 2014 Lily's Verse

Lilium Candidum

Image: www.roseville.ca.us

NEW LIFE

Broken eyes, unseeing as in life, 
unrepentant 
relinquish their light.
Her laughing scars scorn mourners' 
wails.

Her demons, bereft of a loveless 
heart, seek sustenance, 
a new insatiate vehicle. In her 
spirit's death they exult, 
vermilion eyes aglow, 
craving to recount their tale of 
morbid triumph.

Transfixed, I yield to their 
insistent cries; burning digits claim
my own frozen fingers; 
a veil lifted, I journey back in time,
her thwarted hopes to view 
in reverse.

Vortices swirl - coral, orange,
golden whorls. The shadow of an 
amber cord, conduit of life and death
tethers me still to her,
echoes of unassuaged grief lumber
amid her soul's ruins.

I am torn from her begrudging womb,
her stifled cries batter the 
deafening silence; this scourge,
a baneful changeling, is her 
penance.

Imminent doom, Autumn leaves, 
Summer rain, Spring blossoms, 
her swelling belly, 
alas, 
a life starts.

Grave nuptials,
Youth's dreams forestalled, 
 blighted bridal finery, 
her new life begins.

© 2014 Lily's Verse
Lilium Candidum

Image: Femme aux Bras Croisés
Source: imgkid.com
Artist: Pablo Picasso

SANCTUARY

Bare white roof, lush damson hedges,
Angel wing clouds with silvern edges,
thro' barley fields blow waves of gold,
unfettered I dream, weave fables bold.

Plump wasps glutted garrulous gloat,
mother's sweet songs o'er the gardens float,
gentle soothe grey doves in their cotes,
butterflies hasten to clasp her notes.

Repasts of scented, sun-drenched plums,
as breezes climbing weeds' tendrils thrum,
bright sheets blissful billow 'pon lines,
to the wind's tunes dance in gay sunshine.

A blue thrush trills 'mong roses plush,
her young nestle in the bottlebrush,
brown robins with shirtfronts of brass
descend 'pon carpets of chartreuse grass.

Fluffy white pups sleep 'pon my lap,
'neath patch of blue I adventures map,
as life I view thro' rosy glass,
childish woes into oblivion pass.

Canines and aves my only friends,
heedless as I of all that impends,
my heart sole for today's Sun beats,
'pon gladness glides, of life freely feasts.

Tho' now I am grown, my soul yearns
for times past, to yon white roof returns,
where blithe thro' space and time I raced,
euphoric smile 'pon sun-gilded face.

© 2014 Lily's Verse

Lilium Candidum

Image source: www.photogravy.co.uk

I WISH

I wish I'd been there 

to wipe your tears,

to allay your fears.

I wish I'd known how

to repel the jeers,

to quell the sneers.

I wish I'd sensed

the sobs in your smile,

the pain in your guile.

I wish I'd discerned

the snarl in your grin,

the void in your din.

I wish I'd espied

the fall in the mist,

the weltered wrist.

I wish I'd heeded

the cry in your jest,

the disquiet in your rest.

I wish I'd known

what was in your heart,

what tore you apart.

I wish I'd perceived

that all love had dried,

that your soul had died.

I wish you’d called 

to say goodbye.

I wish you’d given life 

one last try.

I wish.....

© 2014 Lily's Verse

Lilium Candidum

Image source: www.elephantjournal.com

MELODIST

At Her altar alone he pays homage, his one 

true Love, fount of grace abiding.

Body arched, head bowed, in tender embrace

he enfolds his instrument, the twain meld in

Her reverence.

Tales he recounts of humankind, of life's

warp and weft, of defeat and triumph, within 

and without.

Sole before Her he prostrates himself, his one

sustenance, his soul's rhythm.

Divested of all ties that bind, his spirit merged

with Her, at once winning and elusive,

his blight and salvation he woos.

Bliss unbounded surges when notes mellifluous  

companionable dance, as gossamer alight upon

his page. 

Vanquished, distraught, stretched prone upon 

cold stone, tears of blood he sheds for euphony,

seeming now a distant dream.

Song of his being is She, the blade of pain in

his throat, his famine and feast, his wolfsbane

and ambrosia.

His cadences, now tranquil, now jubilant, paint

halcyon days, treasured memories. Sparkling

tones tell of union with his Love,

of melodies inchoate.

Pain he would disavow his tunes threads, 

its thrum, unseen, to us unbeknownst,

harmony in our own heartstrings meets.

Alone he worships at Her altar, his one quest,

his life's Refrain.

© 2014 Lily's Verse

Lilium Candidum

Image: MUSIC, HEAVENLY MAID
Source: www.liveinternet.ru
Artist: Sir Edward John Poynter

MOUNTAIN

Abode of thatness am I, fount of His wisdom,
Earth's rivers I feed, as man's spirit.

My leviathan grandeur you exalt, panegyrics to my
noble beauty sing, my deep silences seek.

These heights would you scale, my summit conquer,
stairway am I to your heart's desire.

Sheer cliffs deter you not, nor craggy precipices,
not jagged boulders, nor icy torrents.

Resolute you devise your skyward path, your beings
soar as volant sentinels looping my vastness.

Hearts afire, chart your course, faith, your sustenance,
joy, your pace, caritas, your impost.

Tortuous paths you may tread, perilous, steep, to
each one unknown, tho' these he retraces.

Deride not the broken and bruised; you may falter
as they, for my ways wound and maim.

Mangled corpses at my feet ne'er disdain, for their
spirits now traverse His realm.

Humility I crown, vainglory, crucify. Despond not when
you stumble, for I shall preserve and restore.

With each laboured step must your soul expand,
your resolve deepen, your heart further grow.

Else would my peak frozen comfort be, your victory, 
hollow, lonely your throne on forlorn ice.

© 2014 Lily's Verse
Lilium Candidum

Image source: twanight.org