The Color of Waiting

Use blue as a symbol for the time
it takes a tulip bulb to burst into bloom.

A paint swatch on paper is more compelling
than a number — we don’t know

how long the bursting will take.
Tulips
in the ground will first send up shoots

and the shoots soon have fits
as they ready
for bloom.

But tulips in pots
on the porch
take their sweet time,

days flowing like eggs dipped
in weak blue dye, an odd yearning

waiting in water
and earth and cold.

back to issue

A former Chicagolander, Eileen Murphy lives on semi-rural property 30 miles from Tampa, surrounded by the wild animals of Central Florida, most of them mosquitoes. She earned her masters from Columbia College, Chicago, and teaches literature at Polk State College. Eileen has published poetry recently in Right Hand Pointing, Straight Forward, Helen: A Literary Journal (forthcoming), The Thought Erotic, Rogue Agent, poetry/memoir/story, and other journals.