I have
fishing nets over my field and
a guard with biting dogs
since there is windmucus
in my tulips, my gold
worth half a canal house
or fifteen years of wages
per bulb
oh if only I could
cut off the thieves' hands
and display their balls
in formaldehyde
in the flaming colours
of the stolen mucus
of which only the wind knows
no, nobody
nobody knows
what the tulip disease is called
Poem 2347 Amsterdam, 2019-07-06 Tulip mania from 1634 till 1637, related to a mosaic virus (virus = mucus, poison) Spinning straw into gold ("Rumpelstiltskin is my name" - a Rumpelstilzchen is a little poltergeist; from: Shrivelpole = Dwarf with short legs) Collection:Mosaic virus Keyword:Greed Keyword:Nederland%