Tulips in Discord
On the other side of your pillow, someone
is planting black tulip bulbs. They grow
despite the January cold and they spread
like yawns between strangers.
But these flowers begin to lengthen, heighten,
and their stems turn gray. They resemble children,
slothful with ink hair. They become lethargic incarnates.
They slug through town boneless
ashen play-doh with or without souls—their eyes lack light
—think 1960 Morlocks. They lay on the side of the road
like homeless snails—nowhere to go, no one to want them.
No fear of salt. No thirst for blooming season.
They need to be plucked, rendered pretty
in vases causing dust to look comely. They’re making you
jump just before you delve into their world.
Jade Ramsey holds an MFA from Bowling Green State University. Her work has appeared in Jellyfish, Concisely, Cell Poems, and REAL: Regarding Arts and Letters, among others.
On the other side of your pillow, someone
is planting black tulip bulbs. They grow
despite the January cold and they spread
like yawns between strangers.
But these flowers begin to lengthen, heighten,
and their stems turn gray. They resemble children,
slothful with ink hair. They become lethargic incarnates.
They slug through town boneless
ashen play-doh with or without souls—their eyes lack light
—think 1960 Morlocks. They lay on the side of the road
like homeless snails—nowhere to go, no one to want them.
No fear of salt. No thirst for blooming season.
They need to be plucked, rendered pretty
in vases causing dust to look comely. They’re making you
jump just before you delve into their world.
Jade Ramsey holds an MFA from Bowling Green State University. Her work has appeared in Jellyfish, Concisely, Cell Poems, and REAL: Regarding Arts and Letters, among others.
