Image: Barbara Ryther
Words fail me.
Well, not entirely fail, obviously. I still have words. But I can’t seem to make them do justice to what I see. Just months (weeks?) ago a wooden fence stood next to bare, scratchy branches, both covered in snow, the only thing differentiating them a total lack of symmetry in one, and the width and weight of the other.
And now spring is here. Width and weight are unchanged, while bare, scratchy branches overflow with color, softness, and scent. The wooden fence has emerged from a cold dark winter as…a wooden fence, while the lilac has transformed not only itself but also its surroundings.
There’s poetry in this, probably even a parable. And yet I can’t find it in me to search for the words, to try to articulate the meaning, to use language to illuminate the scene.
I can only look and marvel that such a thing is possible. That such a thing can happen out of coldness and darkness. That all through winter the lilac was preparing to do just this. And that I have done absolutely nothing to deserve such a gift.
So if you have a poem in you, feel free to write it. If you feel a parable coming on, have at it.
For myself, I will content myself with being in the presence of a lilac.
-Barbara Ryther