Learning to Live Without Lilacs -poem

 

“We’ll gather lilacs in the spring again . . .”

wrote Ivor Novello, during World War II, reminding us

that the dark days of war would not last forever.

 

Just so, we wait through freezing days ‘til once

again the lilacs bloom and

fill us with delight.

 

Lilacs! The very name perfumes the air and

conjures up the purple, mauve and

white

patrician blooms.

 

Even as they dip and sway in heaven-

scented breezes

we cannot keep the thought at bay …

How do we live without them

when they go away?

 

When loved ones leave how do we learn to live

without the beauty and the kindness

that we once knew?

 

Best fill the senses with the scents, the sights, the glory

that is Now

and burn the loving into some

safe recess of the mind.

 

When lilacs fade or love grows cold, we’ll always have

what we once had, and, in remembering,

look forward to more lilacs,

in some other spring.

 

 

Pene Beavan Horton

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