Lilac
A head of white lilac
between palm and cheek, firm,
weighty, more deep-water cool
than ever I can quite recall.
I feel my lids close. It enters
like a kiss, absent
still but longed for, a touch
almost as real as in dream.
It isn’t in palm, on cheek,
but through every cell – not a flower
any more but a huge
cool flood through thought’s hinterland.
Ah! Then I go on hacking
between stems of lilac, bare
save for pointed small leaves
cupping the tight green clusters,
hacking at spring briars,
piling prickly strands to one side,
lifting tight-wintering snails
to a frost free shade out of danger.
Page(s) 13
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