ONE RED TULIP

Every year as Winter wanes and the Spring sun illuminates the skies

from the sepia surroundings of our garden…one red tulip is the first to rise.

It is an amazing spectacle…a miracle of design

And I often think, how that little red tulip’s life…is similar to mine.

The tulip celebrates a birthday every year… every year it starts anew.

Which, if i’m not mistaken, is exactly what I do.

The first years of a tulip’s life …when it’s life has just begun

It only looks to be showered by the rain…and nurtured by the sun.

So too it was with me those first years…for I had no regrets

and I was always happy when my basic needs were met.

In the middle of a tulips life…before each season ends

It looks to other flowers and insects and birds to be its friend.

Here again with the tulip I am joyfully compared

For in the middle years I realized…life is better when it’s shared.

As the tulip ages it’s not concerned whether it’s bright red, big or small

It finds it’s comfort and it’s happiness in being a tulip after all.

So it was with me as more and more birthdays came and went

I settled into who I am…and I finally became content.

And the older we get…the tulip and I, when each new birthday does arrive

We are happy to be celebrating…happy to be alive.

Perhaps that’s why I love birthdays…for the possibilities a new year brings

Perhaps that’s why I’m so enamored with the first red tulip every Spring.