by Steph French

—

You wanted so much to do something unprecedented, something

The irises in a vast array of colors

that would break the cycle of ennui in our collective existence, you said, imagine

Tulips burst open soundlessly

the fanfare at dusk, almost enough to make us all weepy

The frothy white of a star magnolia

Voices crying, but hardly anyone in the streets

The green mist of budding leaves, a canopy

And you guess this was our big moment, the curtains rising

The redbud glows purple

And falling

Steph French is a resident of Kansas City. Her chapbook, DELUGE was published by Spartan Press in 2016 as part of the POP Poetry series featuring Kansas City poets.