I know that the reason you placed nine white tulips 
in a glass vase with water
here in this room a few days ago

was not to mark the passage of time
as a fish would have if nailed by the tail
to the wall above the bed of a guest.

But early this morning I did notice
their lowered heads
in the gray light,

two of them even touching the glass
table top near the window, 
the blossoms falling open

as they lost their grip on themselves,
and my suitcase only half unpacked by the door.


 = Mark Novak