Condominium Tulips
By Ali Saunders
We lived in a small condo district near the center of town
My parents were in no way fancy people,
Our house was furnished with a few pictures of our family,
some of my colorful art work pinned to the fridge, and our plain tanish brown couch.
In our neighborhood, all of the houses had to look the same.
No changes to the interior or the exterior were allowed.
What we did have that was our very own were two tulip plants,
I remember the day we planted them into the ground,
The smell of mulch staying on my clothing after I ran inside.
When the tulips began to sprout,
I would shove my little face next to the soil trying to guess what brilliant shades and colors they could be.
It was one of the excitements of spring and of my childhood.
But some years as I pressed my nose up against our cold glass window to look at my beautiful flowers, there were no buds at all,
no colors in sight,
and the tulips didn’t come.
I remember my dad being quite disappointed, often trying to encourage my young self that they would bloom soon
But I didn't seem to need such encouragement,
I knew that the tulips would sprout again for I had put them there with my own two hands,
and they always did.
maybe not every year,
but I knew in their time, they would sprout up from the soil, and just by existing,
quietly,
routinely,
beautifully,
they would bring the utmost amount of joy to our beautiful simple world
you will be ok,
one day you will wake up and feel lighter,
one day you will wake up and feel fuller,
The tulips will come out of the soil again,
in magnificent color