By the Way

C. Dale Young

You are right to point out that the agapanthus（爱情花） 

 is not a lily, especially to one who so loves 

 precision, but the agapanthus is also called 

 "Lily of the Nile," which surely could be seen 

 as justification for calling it a lily. 

I am sure Cleopatra herself never called 

 this plant agapanthus. And, well, wouldn't one 

 want to be more like Cleopatra than like 

 Theophrastus? The Queen of the Nile 

 would have likely called it a lily, no? 

Yes, yes, words have meaning and have power 

 and all of that stuff. Yes, yes, I of all people 

 understand the importance of naming. 

 But if Cleopatra would have called it a lily . . . 

 Okay, I will stop. You look great, by the way. 

But I just want to point out that the agapanthus 

 is such an odd plant that even botanists 

 cannot agree on the number of species in the genus, 

 some saying six, others as many as ten. 

 Okay, I swear I'll stop. Seriously. Promise. 

The windy night air is cold, and the wings 

 bound along my spine sweaty and bruised, 

 the long bandages chafing my armpits（腋窝）. Words 

 have power, my love. You call this winged thing 

 an angel, but that is not the word I would use for it.