Lilacs

That Vase of Lilacs

by Kay Ryan

Not just lilacs

are like that;

other purples also

leave us vacant

portals, susceptible

to vagrant spirits.

But take that vase

of lilacs: who goes

near it is erased.

In spite of Proust,

The senses don’t

attach us to a place

or time: we’re used

by sweetness—

taken, defenseless,

Invaded by a line

Of Saracens,

Picts, Angles