DAYLILIES
Hemerocallis, “beauty for a day”Deep in the throat of summer, daylilies open
to the sun, to the humming bees. Some are
fire-engine red with yellow centers; others
are duplicates of goldfinches in flight.
Buttered Popcorn, Stella d’Oro, Mauna Loa,
Firecracker. A riot of color in high summer,
when everything else browns up. Each blossom
only lasts one day, the briefest of beauty.
Velvet claret, vintage pink, sun yellow, fox red.
They tango in the hot wind. Oh, so quietly,
the multiply in the dark.
~Barbara Crooker
