A broken tulip

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Finally our first warm days
and all the trees are acting strange—
leaves grow broader by the day
shouldering out flowers and shaking down clouds of pollen.
You could lose yourself, the streets are so changed.
Without warning the bleeding hearts are out to air,
mature, demure, as if they’ve always swung there
from slender stalks above the forget-me-nots.
Mundane bushes burst into frivolity
(their one mad dressing event of the year)
exploding themselves into white and pink blossoms—
which bud, swell, burst, smile, and fall
in a matter of days. Nothing stays
for long once Spring feels like Summer.
That’s why you have to walk
with eyes open.
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