terrypetersen

Tulips, Nature, and Me

“You can experience the beauty of nature only when you sit with it, observe it, breathe it, and talk to it.”
― Sanchita Pandey, Lessons from My Garden

The tulip bud shows a promise of red along its center

as it grows straight despite tiny drops of hail,

dropped temperatures, and a touch of ice

on its gentle surface. The flower grows

as it was meant to develop.

Bright, glowing with spring, undaunted

by an unexpected April winter.

I pull my jacket tighter and pray to keep

my color fresh inside my spirit.

Flourish, I say to the flower. Let your roots connect you

to what you are. As I connect mine

to what I am. More than the dust collected day after day

on rags, on memories, I tell myself,

You too must grow despite the mundane.

I step outside the next day and notice the sun,

warm and announcing spring.

My tulip is blossoming. Am I?