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.