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Monday, April 09, 2018

NPM 4-9: Lilacs

When I was growing up, we had purple and while lilac bushes in the yard. The city held a Lilac Festival every year. I adored lilacs. When I moved to Virginia, I learned that Wisteria is a shoddy substitute. Since I've just returned from a trip to Rochester (a snowy one!), I have lilacs on my mind.

Today I'm sharing an excerpt from a poem by Amy Lowell.

Lilacs,
False blue,
White,
Purple,
Color of lilac.
Heart-leaves of lilac all over New England,
Roots of lilac under all the soil of New England,
Lilac in me because I am New England,
Because my roots are in it,
Because my leaves are of it,
Because my flowers are for it,
Because it is my country
And I speak to it of itself
And sing of it with my own voice
Since certainly it is mine.


Read the poem in its entirety.

Happy Monday all.

2 comments:

  1. Do lilacs not do well in VA? I'm surprised you settled for wisteria - the whole state seems a garden capable of growing anything.

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    1. I have a black thumb, so I have no garden to speak of. And I don't think I've actually seen lilacs here. Wisteria is the closest thing I've seen, and it really doesn't compare.
      We had a gardenia in the yard of our first house, and I adored the smell, so it was a suitable replacement. In our current house, we have nothing so lovely.

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