The Greatest Accomplishment

I was inspired by Ralph Waldo Emerson's quote

Through stone or concrete
The tulip grows.

Blazes more brilliant than a firework
In a sky of glass and brick;
Never discouraged by 'too.'
Never wary of being
Too red, too vibrant, too itself.

Where towering glass stems grow,
Overshadowing its beauty,
Where feet threaten to trample,
The tulip is not wary of being
Too small, too delicate, too itself.

The red tulip
Does not blend with its grey environment.
It sways, it swoons
With the wind, the cars, the people
But it is never wary of being
Too fluid, too graceful, too itself.

It does not wilt
Does not expire
Because it is alone;
Because something else is wanted.
No,
The tulip in the crack in the sidewalk
Thrives because it is the only one.