The Lilac Thief
This year I looked for lilacs
off the beaten track
in places no longer tended –
A different kind of boundary,
long rows where once houses stood,
lots now empty.
I love the deeper purple of old bushes,
their crushed bloomets falling into my hand
taken from gnarled bark bearing heavy plumage.
I am the local lilac thief,
that one who stops to follow
the scent of unseen blossoms.
Jacqueline Gens
2004
