EASTER LILLIES
(McTell)

Ralph McTell - 2000


For a long time she stood in the flower shop window
The daffodils dearest at this time of year
Inside she emptied her purse on the counter
"I want to buy all of the daffodils here"

By her eyes it was plain to see she'd been crying
As she tucked back a strand of loose hair from her face
"I want to spend all of my money on flowers
And I need every daffodil here in this place"

Clutching her harvest, a cornsheaf of flowers
She clambered aboard the late rush hour tram
And by Shweigaardsgate, a small pool of water
Had formed on the floor as if wrung from her hands

It just seemed to add to the lost look about her
As the grey rattling city went grumbling past
She sat like a small child testing for butter
Her face lit in yellow from the flowers tighly clasped

Once in her apartment, she lay down the blooms
And divided them up into glasses and jars
Till daffodils filled every space in the room
Then she lit every candle she found in the house

She bathed and she dressed and corked open champagne
Which made pigeons fly from her windowsills
Then closing the curtains on birds in the rain
She stood among flickering daffodils

Surrounded and centred, she pondered her feelings
Sofa'd and cushioned on feathers she lay
Holding on to the pillows, lest she float to the ceiling
And just like the cigarette smoke, drift away

She wondered just where the wind might deliver
An unwritten letter, a torn envelope
Though candlelight warmed, she suddenly shivered
And the yellow flowers shimmered with brightness and hope