Behind the vinyl shower curtain a lilac bush,
knotted into the tie around your neck a lilac bush,

floating in the cereal a lilac bush, on the cheek you kiss
your son on before work and halfway

through your favourite jazz record where it skips
a lilac bush. At the school recital you’ve never missed,

at parent-teacher conference, blossoming from the teacher’s
mouth a lilac bush. When you make love to your wife

her skin is lilac fragranced, isn’t it? Playing ball with your son
on the lawn, the lawn a lilac meadow. In the kitchen

your wife makes dinner, you wonder how she does it
all those lilac bushes on the counter. During

a sermon on the sinfulness of crime, a lilac bush at the pulpit.
When you pass an airport, cop car or penitentiary.

On every remembered anniversary.
As the reed touches your lips to play, lilac’s taste.

William, when the detective finally found
you, someone had laid flowers on your grave.