Green tips of tulips are rising out of the earth Although we can’t see their shy peeks After a bomb cyclone dropped a cargo of snow Onto everything under the sun Don’t call it a blizzard! Just imagine the tulips— the Blue Wows, the Honeymoons— Waiting patiently to show us their spring.
(With a first line from Arthur Sze's "Black Center.")
Draft, Susan Thomsen, 2026
This month the Poetry Sisters are looking to poems by Arthur Sze, the current U.S. Poet Laureate, for inspiration. (See Tanita S. Davis's blog for details.) I was intrigued by their idea and open invitation, and decided to join in, taking the first line of Sze's "Black Center" and seeing where it led. The poem presented a real bouquet of images and language, and choosing only one line to borrow was hard. "Black Center" comes from the collection Sight Lines (2019), and you can read the poem at the publisher Copper Canyon.
The Poetry Friday roundup is at the talented Margaret Simon's Reflections on the Teche on February 27th.
Susan, thank you for yet another clever use of inspiration by Sze. I love “shy peeks” and “a cargo of snow”. You really painted a picture for us! Here’s to the tulips coming soon.
Susan, your photo makes me smile, wondering when we can see the flowers of springtime rising. You certainly used Sze’s line as a lovely opening to your poem. “Don’t call it a blizzard! Just imagine the tulips—.” Spring is popping in your poem.
Didn’t it feel almost impossible to choose a single line? You found such an evocative place to begin and brava for how you took Mr. Sze’s lush imagery and ran with it. Here’s to the patient (or in my place, deeply impatient) waiting.
Totally impossible! Everything I read was a potential verse. I’m so happy there was a Poetry Sisters challenge/invitation to write this week. Thank you for choosing Arthur Sze.
Love your poem and love the idea of “Don’t call it a blizzard!/Just imagine the tulips—” Great advice and beautiful language and imaging with those the “Blue Wows, the Honeymoons!” Thank you for this glimpse of spring!
You are super creative, Susan. I love what you did with “that one line you chose.” I’m intriqued by Sze’s work – I’ll have to look him up and read more. It was 51 here today! With snow still on the ground, I could feel spring around the corner, tomorrow’s high is only 17. The North Wind is blowing it in now!
Thank you, Susan, for a poem of spring and its unpredictable weather! I rarely see tulips here in north Alabama, but our daffodils have been in full bloom for weeks now. While I don’t anticipate a “cargo of snow,” it’s not uncommon for our spring daffodils to contend with a snowfall. This year, I hope not!
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