After yesterday's snow the lilac growing
beside the fence
can hardly bear the weight
of her own flowers
the slender branches bent
low to the ground
the leaves with their bleached underside
now facing upwards
give the whole bush
a most bedraggled look
the forecast week of rain
will scarcely bring her back
but once the sun returns
perhaps in May
she surely will regain
her former elegance
if only the pale lavender
of her spiked blooms
will last another month