John Updike - May 9th, 2022 Iyengar All Levels

Here’s Updike’s lilacs.

STYLES OF BLOOM

…

Lilac: an explosion of ego

odorous creamily, each raceme ,

dewy till noon, then overnight

turned papery and faded—a souvenir.

In arches weighed by fragile suds,

the bridal wreath looks drenched.

White as virtue is white, plain

as truth is plain, the bushes can't

wait to shed their fat bundles of sequins:

Burdensome summer has come.