TULIPS

You want to cup them in your hands, don’t you,

their layered petals inviting caress.

Their colors rainbow-varied, rich, as if viewed

only by royalty, fabric to dress

a queen. Their name derives, it seems, from

a Persian word for “turban”. You see it,

don’t you, how it wraps the stem’s head. How red

ones respond to sun like an open heart.

There in the garden, your open heart and

arms caress your daughter like a bouquet

of flowers. I recall a distant land

long ago, embracing my daughter that way.

She was younger then than your Grace, our smiles

at ease, unaware what precious memories.

 

Roger Armbrust

March 18, 2023