Wondering why I am so attracted to waterlilies, I found this half-forgotten poem by Robert Hayden. It, like Monet's paintings and waterlilies in nature, speaks to me of peace in turbulent times.
Monet's Waterlilies
Today as the news from Selma and Saigon
poisons the air like fallout,
I come again to see
the serene, great picture that I love.
Here space and time exist in light
the eye like the eye of faith believes.
The seen, the known
dissolve in iridescence, become
illusive flesh of light
that was not, was, forever is.
O light beheld as through refracting tears.
Here is the aura of that world
each of us has lost.
Here is the shadow of its joy.
--Robert Hayden
