Tulsa 1921
The tall black tulips stood
Stood over the petunias
Purple petunias
Shining and swaying in the sun
Stretching
Stretching to the far horizon
Tall and proud the tulips stood
Over the purple blanket
The herd in the distance snorted
Scratched
And stampeded toward the tulips and petunias
A heard of white mean oxen
Stampeded
Stampeded over the tulips and petunias
Over the purple blanket
Viola’s Mother shouted
“Viola!
Viola, get under the table!
The table!”
And they all were covered
She and her brothers were covered
And her sisters were covered
Covered by the white cloth
And in deadly silence they waited
Waited
The white oxen trampled
Trampled the furniture
Burnt
Burnt the curtains and the houses
Banged
Banged up the piano
Destroyed
Destroyed up and down, right and left
Stole
Stole the precious things
Killed
Killed the neighbors
The young wide eyes
Black eyes
Did not understand why
Why
White oxen had so much hate
Why so much hate
For lovely black tulips and purple petunias
So many black tulips
Lay dead
Up and down, right and left
Dead
Other tulips fled along the railroad
Fled
Others lay bent and injured
Injured
Protecting the young petunias from the herd
Never
Never to speak of it again
Only
Only rising, rising
To survive
(published in Verse-Virtual in July 2021)
Copyright © Joe Miano | Year Posted 2025
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