Between thunderstorms <br />a car pulls into the driveway <br />turns around, then parks, <br />a little old blonde woman <br />asks if I remember her <br /> <br />no <br /> <br />she takes a step back <br />so I can look at her <br />'I sold you this house' <br /> <br />oh <br /> <br />what she misses most <br />are the lilacs <br />in fuller bloom this year <br />than she's ever seen them, <br />the lilacs all my friends <br />are wild about I take <br />for granted <br /> <br />she remembers planting this bush <br />and look how this tree <br />planted for her son <br />has grown <br /> <br />nearly three years <br />since she was here last, <br />I invite her in <br />lead her through room after room <br /> <br />the paneling and sheetrock <br />she put up is taken down, <br />the walls replastered, <br />papered over <br /> <br />her daughter in law remembers <br />how she used to sleep <br />in what's now my study <br /> <br /> <br />I show her the pear tree <br />split in half by a storm <br />last summer, but it's still <br />got blossoms <br /> <br />and how do I like <br />her asparagus? <br /> <br />I've never seen it <br /> <br />out by the lilacs <br />she shows me knee high stalks <br />I thought were weeds <br /> <br />and there's more further back, <br />these were the wild ones <br /> <br />step by step <br />she tries to walk the rows <br />she remembers planting <br />but can barely find them, <br />shows me last year's stalks <br />gone to seed, <br />other plants just starting <br /> <br />after she left it poured <br />for three days running.<br /><br />Rochelle Ratner<br /><br />http://www.poemhunter.com/poem/lilacs-asparagus-a-broken-pear-tree/
