Student Poem:
The Tulip Garden
By Autumn Kennedy
In the new creation, I will plant
A tulip garden, one you can’t
Get lost in, though you may not know
Its boundaries or beginnings, so
Unforced and gentle it will be
To come upon. At first you’ll see
A little grouping, and alone
This outskirt of the garden, sown
For invitation, will awake
Your love. Indeed, you will but make
A passing note of them, but they
Will make a note on you. They play
Along your path, increasing to
A field, then many fields of hue
So various, yet in accord
With beauty by right minds adored.
A petal paradise of red
And yellow, pink and white; instead
Of water-waves, this ocean swells
With flowers past what numbering tells.
O days when nature will be free
To tell the stories it will see
Reflected in humanity!
If in that Garden dreams come true,
I’ll tell the City Ever-New
How You found me, and I found You.
The path by which we twain did go,
Which led by tracts that pleased us well,
Thro' four sweet years arose and fell,
From flower to flower, from snow to snow:
And we with singing cheer'd the way,
And, crown'd with all the season lent,
From April on to April went,
And glad at heart from May to May ...
One of our CLT alumnæ contributors to the Journal, Autumn Kennedy is from Cincinnati OH, and currently attending New College Franklin in Tennessee. She loves big ideas, fairy-tales, dance, and driving with the windows down.
If you’d like to read more from our outstanding students, you can find essays, poetry, and prose fiction from them right here at the Journal. You might also enjoy some of our past and present series: we’re currently narrating the historical background of the Author Bank on Mondays, and last year we wrapped up a topic-by-topic discussion of what Mortimer Adler called “the Great Conversation,” ranging from subjects like angels and prophecy to citizenship, language, and pleasure and pain. And speaking of conversations, be sure not to miss out on our podcast, Anchored. Happy Friday!
Published on 14th June, 2024.