lotus flower

just call me nymphaea (or ms nelumbo, if you please!)
under favourable circumstance, my seeds
remain viable for as long as 300 years ...
even when recovered from a
barren lake-bed in china, i thrive.
i am the aquatic perennial;
ever fertile, and emerging baptised
and disguised as a mermaid.
how strange to be the lofty lotus;
sacred with sexual purity and divine beauty,
it's petals unfold like lovers souls'
alongside one another, in perfect unity. 
i like the anecdote about growing from the earth -
that my flesh and blood will return to mud
is certain, but meanwhile,
i will try my best to make a pretty seat
for the feet of deities.