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.