Today my long tall tulip fell
His pearl-pink bulb had dared to swell
But blushen hung now like a bell

His slim and slender stem once towering
Arced to earth with posture cowering
Burdened by his glory flowering

How quickly he had seemed to climb
To bask in sudden sunlit prime
The longest flower, the shortest time

His adolescent orb once closed
With youthful promise, then exposed
More beauty than we all supposed

And eager straight he stretched to see
The furtive squirrels’ revelry
And blue jays jostling high in tree

His handsome head became a hand
Outstretched to welcome wide and grand
We who’d pale beside him stand

But now his palm points to the ground
Where loyal subjects once were found
A fallen king with withering crown

I saw you flower – be sure of this
Your scented cheeks I bent to kiss
Nor did a day of beauty miss

Though brief your waxing and your wane
Your colours left the purest stain
That in my mind’s eye does remain

In all the world where flowers grow
We sallow souls rush to and fro
Preoccupied, we miss the show

But when we pause to smell the blooms
Held captive by arresting plumes
Forget the sundry that consumes

Thus precious harried minutes take
Our reverie to gaily break
I noticed you -- make no mistake

I studied you that rare of gift
You gave my care-worn spirit lift
Then cut its soaring hopes adrift

Today my long tall tulip fell
Surrendering to Nature’s knell
And left us where he deigned to dwell