I promised myself lilacs this week.
All over the neighborhood the bushes glinted amethyst
But I couldn’t go out Sunday because of the rain
And we know, don’t we, never to cut wet flowers
They wilt once they’re inside
But yesterday the snow came
Heavy and cold
You shouldn’t cut frozen flowers either
You shouldn’t dig through the snow
To the branches bent to snapping point
And cut the flowers brittle as spun glass
And bring them home
Stepping over and around the fallen limbs
Of maimed trees
Covered in their pretty spring leaves
You shouldn’t bother wading home
With your armload of blossoms
arrange them in a vase
To weep their melting snow all over the table.
You shouldn’t do that.
They will be brown within hours
And they have no scent
Save a faint, ghostly perfume
Unrecognisable and sad.
But
I promised myself
Lilacs
All over the neighborhood the bushes glinted amethyst
But I couldn’t go out Sunday because of the rain
And we know, don’t we, never to cut wet flowers
They wilt once they’re inside
But yesterday the snow came
Heavy and cold
You shouldn’t cut frozen flowers either
You shouldn’t dig through the snow
To the branches bent to snapping point
And cut the flowers brittle as spun glass
And bring them home
Stepping over and around the fallen limbs
Of maimed trees
Covered in their pretty spring leaves
You shouldn’t bother wading home
With your armload of blossoms
arrange them in a vase
To weep their melting snow all over the table.
You shouldn’t do that.
They will be brown within hours
And they have no scent
Save a faint, ghostly perfume
Unrecognisable and sad.
But
I promised myself
Lilacs