lillies in my yard

in front of the old Capital building
in Phoenix, Arizona there stands
a statue of a young fighter pilot
whose name was Frank Luke Jr

In September 1917 aged 20
Frank was accepted into flight training
on completion Second Lieutenant
Frank Luke Jr. went home on leave

before taking the new flying machine
overseas to fight in the First World War
he planted some lillies for his mother
Tilly in her front yard

on 29th September 1918 Tilly
opened the front door to her yard
and was greeted by an amazing
show of colourful lillies

she gazed at with a mixture
of love and sadness
for she knew this early blooming
heralded bad news

Second Lieutenant Frank Luke Jr
made his last heroic flight
crashed his plane and lost his life
on the day the lillies bloomed