Lilacs

My sweet neighbor brought me a bouquet of lilacs from her garden today and it made me tear up because I needed that spontaneous burst of beauty and appreciation and because lilacs are so heavily associated with my childhood springs in Germany.  What a feast for my eyes, nose, and heart these flowers will be in the coming days.

In the dooryard fronting an old farm-house near the white-wash’d palings,
Stands the lilac-bush tall-growing with heart-shaped leaves of rich green,
With many a pointed blossom rising delicate, with the perfume strong I love,
With every leaf a miracle—and from this bush in the dooryard,
With delicate-color’d blossoms and heart-shaped leaves of rich green,
A sprig with its flower I break.

-Walt Whitman