The Dutch Vase

 

for Liz

In the kitchen window sits a ceramic vase

the shape of a woman's thighs,

blue clouds floating in a white sky,

all in all the colour of a delft tile.

And a fleet of sailing ships

laden with silks and spices

is heading for a Dutch canal.

Overseen by a windmill, of course,

or rather a family of them, 

all tilting their sails to the winds of trade.

The whole tableau encased in a blue petalled heart.

Not tulip petals, as you'd perhaps suppose,

from a scene about life in The Golden Age.

But there is, I find, no such thing as a true blue tulip.

And outside the window a robot mower

saunters along a fixed path,

doubles back, circles, takes up the trail again,

like a dog on the scent of

but not in a hurry

to get the job done.

Enough to remind me of the passage of time,

progress and the obsolete

and a nudge to plant bulbs now

if I want a dutch tableau in the garden next Spring.

Copyright 2026 Cathy Leonard