Tulips and Pansies 1996

Your premier surprised my vision that morning,
When your delicate shoots sprung to life,

The soft tilled soil nurtured and hardened your inevitable arrival,

Many skunks in their black and white coats gleamed in the moon light,
Timidly leaving those plants bulbs unscathed,

And the warmth of the strengthening sun released you,
To another spring and you sprung surprisingly,

Perhaps the quarrelsome racoons had a deal with you,

To leave the artist in that dreamland space,
Within those glass enclosures some beauty,

Oh, yes I'll paint that,

I will paint anything,

For the need to express is one of the joys of life,
I would like to believe for the living,
And the feeling of those wonderful hands,
The time is now in which they will create,

Now the sumptuous petals of the tulips,
Caress the dainty; almost butterfly like ones of the pansies,

And keeping with tradition a coin for luck,

The fresh water lovingly poured,

And two weeks of your flourish for all to enjoy.