WHEN MAY-DAY TURNS COLD

 [and COLD it was!]

I ached for their fragrance

In May’s misty spray;

Yet, hope of a sighting

Soon withered to gray…

Not leaf, nor pale petal,

Would grace the damp day

As dawn flickered lightly

And waxed my dismay…

This sparked a recounting

Of Spring’s passion play;

But prized, purple beauties

Remained ‘tucked away’…

To endlessly seek them

Today, seemed in vain;

These lavender treasures

 Evade the chilled plains…

**********

I cherish an old tale

That still lines my brain:

Dear lilacs!

Sweet lilacs!

Please dance in the rain!!!

Poem written by L.P.G. / c. 2026

In honor of my late father’s birthday

[He would have turned 97 on May 1^st]

As a small child, my late paternal grandmother often recounted [to me] the story of my father’s birth in New York on a day that she remarked “the lilacs danced and kissed the rain”. That said, a cold May surely has a way of delaying their beautiful, lavender-purple blossoms.