Every green surface shimmers
in the botanic garden
except the forever dry,
inside-out umbrella shaped
leaves of the Sacred Lotus.
Raindrops bounce, glide and converge
into pebble-shaped spheroids
of water at leaf centres.
The water's convex surface
gathers light from all angles.
Inside, fragments of debris
are highlighted curios.
A slight breeze riffles the leaves.
The water pebbles quiver,
smooth as semi-molten gla**.
A moorhen paddles through stems
under the green canopy.
Water rolls in long-stemmed bowls
like transparent mercury.
An incoming duck swerves past
a statue of a small boy
riding a disgruntled swan
and skids noisily, splashing
cloudy pond water into
the shining spheroids above.
Pa**enger animalcules
are abruptly uplifted
to new high-rise apartments.
From inside their gla**y cells,
they have a distorted view
of pale pink Lotus flowers
on elegant stems, arching
into bright circles of sky.
In the flat, dim pond below,
light arrived in parallel
rays, filtered through matte-green leaves.
Now, in this bizarrely bright
curved space, they've nowhere to hide.