Amaryllis Lily

Amaryllis Lily

Laurie Klein

Dear forced bulb
alive as a fist, yet
sealed in gray wax, how long
can you survive?
Waterless, rootless, two stems
inch upward, then flare,
in a crimson fanfare
I don’t deserve. Their wet-flag
wilt—that’s more like it. Or is it
guilt: Even sheathed,
does ego ever outgrow rivalry?
Envy feeds on little, yet thrives.
Proud red stars, like a run
of luck, crown stem number three!
That co-worker’s prize? I want
to applaud—to force
good cheer, with no façade—trusting
largesse will rise. It must. Watch me
salute, and try to ignore
the necktie of bone
where my ribs rise.
Always the ladder.

---

Laurie Klein
Poet & Author

Laurie Klein is the author of two full-length poetry books, Where The Sky Opens (2015) and her forthcoming collection House of 49 Doors --- both from the Poiema Poetry Series and Cascade Books.

 Photography by Parrish Freeman