The crossword clue was "aromatic flower" and I had a beginning "l". The letters i-l-a-c just slid down the column and I actually inhaled, hoping there would magically be an accompanying perfume! The mere word invokes deepening shades of purple, mauve, plum, violet and of course, virgin white.
We had a lilac bush on the edge of our property and the neighbors'. It was the meeting place of little girls, sharing confidences, building dreams. It was also the source of a matchless May scent, a spring elixir . On Mother's Day Sunday morning, I would always pick a bouquet to put at my mother's place at breakfast, sometimes with a gawky poem of appreciation.
Now when I smell that elusive subtile lilac aroma I wish I could capture it in a perfume, soap, lotion. But would that be like capturing and pinning a butterfly?
Enough, to inhale briefly each year, marvel with a smile and tear.
There's always next springtime.
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