A Poem for a Thursday #288

When I first read today’s poem I immediately thought of this photo that I took a few years ago when my sister and niece were visiting. We rented kayaks and spent a couple of hours puttering around on a nearby lake. It was lovely and so were the water lilies.

Sarah Teasdale was born in Missouri in 1884. Her first poem was published by the local newspaper. She went on to publish collections of poetry that were well-received for their “lyrical mastery and romantic subject matter.” Teasdale won the Pulitzer Prize for Poetry in 1918.

If you have forgotten water lilies floating
On a dark lake among mountains in the afternoon shade,
If you have forgotten their wet, sleepy fragrance,
Then you can return and not be afraid.

But if you remember, then turn away forever
To the plains and the prairies where pools are far apart,
There you will not come at dusk on closing water lilies,
And the shadow of mountains will not fall on your heart.

Water Lilies
Sarah Teasdale