Mother's Lilac

The lilac bush in our side yard
Could catch the sun for most of the day
And the rain flowed down the slope of our property to its roots
It grew huge with blooms like grapes so full and large that they should drip wine
But it had no scent to guide you with your eyes closed tight
Just a beauty with no depth or personality
A disappointment from God if you so believe
Or Mother Nature
A woman in white with dirty knees and calloused hands from planting all day long
Who was really mom, planting flowers full of olfactory blessings
In shorts with dirty knees and calloused hands
Each year as a boy (and sometimes as a man) I would go close and pull those lilac blooms even closer
Hoping beyond hope itself to catch the slightest scent
But like life it was filled with disappointment
So in the year of our greatest loss we cut the beast down
And hacked the roots out of the ground with shovel and pick
To plant again in that fertile soil
Some life to fill our empty souls
Some scent to fill our heads with the memories we should have had
And named it mother’s lilac
Some brand new happiness in our side yard