Laurie Kaiser ~ Tulips

I yearn for a scrap of good news
Like the city longs for tulips
To final­ly raise their mag­nif­i­cent faces to the sun,
Shining and twirling like beau­ty queens

With blind­ing, con­ceit­ed smiles.
They know how much we need them.
They can see the detri­tus cluttering
Our city side­walks and our lives.

They know March teas­es us
With its cru­el, whip­ping winds
While we eager­ly wait for tulips to bloom.
We check and recheck the mailbox.

Just bills and cred­it card come-ons
Perch there with gar­ish, sneer­ing smirks
Knowing the “yes” we’re hop­ing for
Didn’t arrive. Not today, maybe never.

I will myself not to suc­cumb to despair
And chan­nel the opti­mist I used to be,
Imaging tiny green shoots that
Any-day-now will burst through cold, hard soil

Past winter’s icy memories
Past our hope­less­ness and care­less mistakes
Past bro­ken promis­es and pink slips
To deliv­er long-await­ed petals.

~

Laurie Kaiser is assis­tant direc­tor of pub­lic rela­tions for Buffalo State’s College where she recent­ly com­plet­ed a master’s degree in English lit­er­a­ture and pub­lic rela­tions. Her arti­cles, essays, and poet­ry have been pub­lished in sev­er­al pub­li­ca­tions includ­ing The Christian Science Monitor, The Chicago Tribune, Elm Leaves Journal, The Atlanta Journal-Constitution, San Antonio Express-News, musingmama.com, San Antonio Magazine, and Northwestern Magazine.