Two poems by Laura-Delight van Tartwijk

They Died

It is as though everyone stopped believing,

But me. They are not bothered by their

Accents becoming heavier day after day, their tulips

Dying in the garden, and our anthem that has

Become a distant melody. The cheese in

Their shiny kitchens isn’t even real any more.

I am the only one who still loves

Those foggy days that smell like grass. During

Which you want to roll around in that grass, the

Dew drops making you soaking wet. Your boots

Becoming invisible and it seems like you are walking

To nowhere.

I would catch a raindrop, while passing the old

Windmill. The drop, following the lines of

My hands, always made me realize how young I am,

Yet how old I feel. My thin jacket did not do

Much to protect me from the rain, I would

Shake it off, exactly how my dog used to.

She died.

They should try catching a raindrop to realize how

Old they have become. I am sure that they

Will be able to see the faded pencil marks left

Behind in their minds, and they will remember

That if they do not water their tulips, they

Will die with them.

__________

After the men knocked on our door,

Mother forgot to water the

Tulips in the garden. Their once

Playful colors, dancing with the soft, Dutch winter winds,

Now look more like my despicable grandfather:

Old and wrinkly, fragile and grey,

Purposely forgotten in his rocking chair.

The roses on the other side, however,

Were looked after with great care, never disregarded.

Mama loved their color:

A red resembling the red of the stripes on her country’s flag,

“So very lively,” as she would say with her thick American accent,

Looking out of the window, while making

Me a sandwich with appelstroop.

But I could still not understand,

While picking up the ashes of my favorite flower,

Why she did not want to see their enchantment,

The way the tulips were in perfect harmony with the robins who

Whistled “Nederland, oh, Nederland” just before dawn.

How couldn’t she love the reflection of the tulips

In the lake we skate on during the winter,

And how their colors complemented the colors of my flag perfectly?

I did not understand until I realized

That the men who knocked on our door that day

Took everything away: not just every book in our library,

Grandma’s favorite painting, and our family’s reputation,

They took away my father’s wonderful, soothing smile,

My sister’s naiveté, my mother’s love for tulips,
And my surrender.