KATHERINE GARRISON CHAPIN

When I met my lover

Lilacs were new,

He said, “I brought some lilacs,

Lilacs for you.”

I took them eagerly

Laughing in surprise;

He said: “They are pretty

Just like your eyes.”

I pressed the pointed blossoms

Close to my cheek,

And the smooth green leaves . . .

But I couldn’t speak.

How was I to tell him,

Spring being new,

How say: “It is the lilacs

I love, not you.”