Concrete Dutch Tulips are all the rage in the city by the river
as they trade for increasing vast fortunes
that feed the bloated economy figure, warts popping pus
and oozing, squeezing blood all over the dust potted road.
The second city of Empire, the anti-capital, the gateway
to a new world, has more and more concrete tulips
than is healthy as the modern bubble shimmers
in the March sun and speculators look for another
square block in which tulips will thrive.
Speculating on a future that could change with a slip of a pen
or a change in political idolatry is foolhardy
and takes away the thought that culture is the main driving force
of making sure that the young remain
free thinkers and concrete tulips are chipped away,
till only dust remains.
Construct your tulips where you may
but don’t bank your local children’s rubber soul
on the shuffle of a speculator’s abacus
and take away its chance to rebel.
Ian D. Hall 2015.