Friday, May 15, 2009

memories of 1637...





Yesterday
I saw tulips for sale
in the floral department of City Market
Reaching for a bouquet, I stepped
easily into 1637, the height of the tulip craze
when Andries, my lover
lost his fortune speculating
on tulip bulbs

Yesterday
I bought a bouquet of the white ones on a whim
to brighten my kitchen and remind me of
far more glorious tulips
flowers like champagne cups
translucent petals
more valuable than gold
Oh Andries, those were the days
We lived well, our purses bulging with optimism

You claim to have lost it all
but I lost nothing
having loved the flowers themselves

2 comments:

Skye said...

Oh wow what wonderful pictures! I have some bright red tulips blooming in my backyard right now. They're almost finished, but I noticed that my Bleeding Hearts and some of my Irises are starting to get buds. I do love flowers!

By the way, thank you for stopping by my blog, it's always nice to see new faces popping in :)

Nancy said...

I love tulips. I wish they lasted longer, but I must have them each spring. We used to plant them, but the rabbits would dig them up and eat them.

Thanks for stopping by my blog.