Water Lily

Water Lily

“Pua wai” — the flower of still water

Water lilies open with the morning sun and close again in the afternoon, keeping their own gentle schedule on the surface of a pond.

The pads spread flat and dark, and the flower sits among them like a small lit lamp.

Garden ponds all over the islands grow them, which means most of us have stood over one, quietly, longer than we meant to.