Are you in Amsterdam
In love with the tulips,
their sweet pollen feast,
their exquisite cups?
Fragrance and colour
From Istanbul and Turkey,
All the joy in the world
In the city's flower shops.
Merchants on the quay
With Van Dyck beards
Beautiful tulips are tops,
A Rembrandt painting.
Tulipomania,let your petals
Unfold, a floral ballet!
Dancing in the Bloemenmarkt,
Dancing in the world today.
Tulipomania
Treasures that could grace the Kelvin Hall,
Lovely tulips standing straight and tall;
Are you in Amsterdam with all the joy
In the world in front of you?
Bright colours so bold and unequivocal
You're in love with everything botanical
Sweet goblets of pollen and nectar
Stemming from glorious nature.
Dutch merchants at the quayside
Smiling through Van Dyck beards.
Rembrandts of resplendent borders,
Gilders of a new landscaped age.
Long travels from Turkey and Istanbul,
The prized tulip flowers await in baskets
To be sold, reckoned worth far more
than their weight in gold.
O Tulipomania, let the petals unfold
Dance through the garden, set the world
Ablaze, a vibrant ballet of blooms
in a bustling Flower Market Experience.
Mary Angela Nangini's poems celebrate the richness of life and love. From the city to cottage-country and the roads in between, Nangini explores the changing seasons of her varied region. (This book will soon be reprinted in hard cover.)