Not For Their Strength Are Lilies Grown Poem by McKenzie Bodkin

“Not for their strength are lilies grown,
Nor for their weight are zephyrs known,
Or for their boldness, butterflies,
Or for their coldness, children's eyes.
Such things pass quickly, lost to time,
Yet in their frailty are sublime
Beyond all denser, solid things.
True beauty to the fleeting clings.
Uncertain why, we cling to life,
Our beauty burnished by its strife,
Yet tarnish we, when near its end,
Our prejudices we defend.”