Foxtail Lily

 Foxtail Lily

Oh family of foxes, in the green grass
I do not see you as I pass...
But I know you're there with your tails up high
Standing tall mid the summery sky.

Your flowers of gold and coppery rust
Burst from your bulbs with a mighty thrust!
Like torches illumining the day and the night
Lighting the garden with with fiery might.

Flowers growing from bottom to top
Honey bees drinking they never do stop!
Gathering pollen and fiery fluff
For sweet golden honey, that magical stuff!

And then when the flowers
   do fall to the ground
The seed heads will form
    tight and round,
Holding a secret, inside each one
           A golden gift from Father Sun.                                                     
The seeds they will sleep,
​   in dark winter nights
And dream of the flames
    that will burn so bright. 
When summer returns
​    and the bees they will fly
The foxes will run with their tails held high!

Foxes and bees and coppery flames
Foxtail Lily! How I love your name.

​written by Christine Summerfield/June 14, 2018