First Friday Flowers of Summer

White Tulips

 White Flowers

(By Mary Oliver)

Last night
in the fields
I lay down in the darkness
to think about death,
but instead I fell asleep,
as if in a vast and sloping room
filled with those white flowers
that open all summer,
sticky and untidy,
in the warm fields.
When I woke
the morning light was just slipping
in front of the stars,
and I was covered
with blossoms.
I don’t know
how it happened ---
I don’t know
if my body went diving down
under the sugary vines
in some sleep-sharpened affinity
with the depths, or whether
that green energy
rose like a wave
and curled over me, claiming me
in its husky arms.
I pushed them away, but I didn’t rise.
Never in my life had I felt so plush,
or so slippery.
or so resplendently empty.
Never in my life
had I felt myself so near
that porous line
where my own body was done with
and the roots and the stems and the flowers
began.

Well, that brings us to the end of another week. I've been going at a slower pace recently. The upcoming two weeks will likely be much slower, especially during the July 4th weekend. Hopefully, the posts are of good enough quality to make up for the reduction in quantity. I plan to pick up production again sometime in mid-July.

In any case, tulips are probably my favorite type of flower. Yeah, I get excited over whatever floral beauty happens to be in front of me at any given moment, but my admiration for Queen Tulip is constant and enduring.

Here's a vid of "Tulips" by Bloc Party:

Here's the Tulip Wikipedia page.

Here's Mary Oliver's Wikipedia page.

And here's Bloc Party's Wikipedia page and official website.

Enjoy!!!