The Lilacs Grow Wild

Aug 1 2017

The lilacs grow wild

this time of year.

And their thick sweet scent

suspended in the humid air

is like a sugar high,

cotton candy

at the county fair.

In the dark green forest

lacy white blossoms

compete for meagre sun.

Where their redolent air

hangs heavy

against the fresh scent of spruce and pine,

cedar's zest

balsam's spice.

And where that old lady smell

seems so incongruous.

Powdered faces

with eyebrows drawn on.

Bright red lipstick

badly applied

in a tremulous line.

Little old ladies

who are over-perfumed

with lilac's cloying scent,

so out of place

in this wild woods.

And, like them, are also not long for this world.

Tall slender wands

that seem to emerge over-night,

and are gone

almost as fast.