What Can I Say?? I've Got a Thing For Flowers Lately.

Four Kinds of Lilacs
by Leo Dangel


"Why don't you turn at the next corner,"
she said, "and take another road home.
Let's go past that farm with all the
different colored lilacs."

"That's seven miles out of the way,"
he said. "I wanted to plant the rest
of the corn before evening. We
can look at lilacs some other time."

"It'll take only a few minutes"
she said. "You know that lilacs
aren't in bloom for long—if we
don't go now, it will be too late."

"We drove past there last year,"
he said. "They're like any other lilacs
except for the different colors. The rest
of the year, they're all just bushes."

"They're lilac, purple, white, and pink,"
she said. "And today, with no breeze,
the scent will hang in the air—no flowers
smell as good as lilacs in the spring."

"I thought of planting lilacs once,"
he said, "for a windbreak in the grove.
The good smell lasts only a few days.
I suppose we can go, if we hurry."

"Now slow up," she said.
"Last year, you drove by so fast
we couldn't even get a good look.
It wouldn't hurt to take it easy."

"Well, there they are," he said,
"and looking pretty scraggly—past
full bloom already. You should
have thought of doing this sooner."

please note: photo bt Brian Brown

Comments

  1. says so much about so many things doesn't it.
    Another great one thank you :)

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  2. Nothing smells as good as lilacs, except maybe gardenias... wonder why neither last very long?

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  3. I've had discussions just like this-verbatim. I'll have more as we plan our fall trip.

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  4. Seven miles is but a small detour, if lilacs are on that path.

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  5. Love this--but I am partial to lilacs (all four kinds)...

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  6. Leo Dangel always captures the complexities of marriage in these little vignettes of his; the give, the take, the sting, the surrender that isn't surrender at all.

    His poems are so real--and so depressing!

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  7. Sounds just like a man...grumpy, pragmatic, old thing and just like a woman... going out of her way to find beauty. What would they do without us?
    :D

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  8. Lilacs and memories
    smell the sweetest
    when in full bloom.

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  9. I love lilacs. Ours are just blooming thanks to all the snow we're still having. I'm always excited at the prospect of them and then sad when they are gone. I think I'll go get a bunch and bring them inside today. Thanks.

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Hey, thanks for your thoughts and your time:>)

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