Tulips Flame

by Michael Dylan Welch, Amelia Fielden, Marg Sutton, Naomi Beth Wakan, and Zulis Yalte.

Gabriola grass

still damp with rain—

clouded summer moon Michael

                mists clear

                to a hot orange dawn Amelia

making marmalade

my father in the kitchen

for his annual ritual Naomi

                tea kettle whistles

                empty cups Marg

children at the bus stop

all in new clothes

a size too large Naomi

                bruised leaves swirl and eddy

                crows chorus their caws Zulis

filling the bath

she adds fragrant salts,

hums an old tune Amelia

                Tagore’s jasmine flowers

                moaning to the sky Zulis

he slides her hand

into his jacket pocket—

first flakes of snow Amelia

                into the dark

                the last ferry Marg

gathering lilacs

the neighbour’s bushes

overhang our yard Naomi

                tulips flame

                from long-buried bulbs Amelia