Tuesday, April 23, 2019

tip toe through the tulips...

i first planted
tulips
at our home...


in south euclid
back in the fall
of nineteen eighty eight
they were beautiful
that first year
the next august
we delivered sarah
she arrived with an unexpected
extra chromosome
and all of a sudden
tulips
took on a new meaning
a few years earlier
a woman named
emily perl kingsley
had written a poem
about the shock
of learning your child has
down syndrome
she likened it to going
on a trip
to holland when you
thought you were
heading to italy
i didn't want to go to
italy or holland
so for a short while
i hated tulips
then something wonderful
happened
i feel madly and deeply
in love with sarah
and tulips too
but as life evolved
so did the deer
that were multiplying
faster than rabbits
in our first ring suburb
they ate all the tulips
every last one
thirty years after first
planting those bulbs
i started over
in a new home
nearer the country
i was hopeful
yet realistic
i could hardly contain
my enthusiasm
when i first
spotted sprouts
early in april
then the buds started to appear
followed by flowers
each morning
there seems to be more
and more
tonight
i took jackson out
with me
the sun was shinning
perfectly
and off in the distance
of the flower patch
you can see
sarah's angel
so appropriately
placed
with the tulips
in our new home
new beginnings
with a healthy dose
of gratitude