A poem a day in April from Rutgers English PhD students and friends.

Saturday, April 4, 2015

Taking the temperature

Spring can take so long 
making the leap. Everyone wants to know when it has finally done it

For some, winter was colder. Temperature 
is not a matter of belief. 

Everyone has a stake in it—winter, and the garden--
one way or another. 

Some tulips will bloom before others. 
Some will never bloom at all. The deer will get them just as green is envying another color. 

It's a simple fact that your neighbors took certain precautions and you didn’t. They sprayed
fish stink on those lush petals. Threw netting over the whole lot. 

The deer prefer your tulips; maybe you should be flattered.
Too soon to tell what color they could have been, too late

to find out. You knew when you planted them
but now you're not sure. Color is tricky and memory fools us. 

2 comments:

  1. Love this/love continuing April tulip theme from last year

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  2. stanza 4 -- especially the final sentence -- is to die for. i'm just going to say i wrote it.

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