by Brenna Smith
What is your life?
You are a rain lily that blossoms four days
& then wilts.
You spring
From the sweetness of the rain
& linger a time as a reminder.
Dying, you consent to be nothing,
dying a death at once real & illusory
in order to give life
to the next beauty that will grow in your place.
A rain lily knows its role & accepts its limits—
Fragility & total, ungrudging submission
are the essence of its beauty.
Consider the lilies of the field.
Consider the rain lily.
Consider the Lily of the Valley.
- Share this Poem:
ABOUT THE POET ~
Brenna Smith is a writer, musician, and teacher born and raised in the Skagit Valley of Washington State and currently based out of Fort Worth, Texas. Her two proudest accomplishments are being impossible to find in hide-and-seek and memorizing Lucky's entire speech from Waiting for Godot.
Last updated April 11, 2025