We walk together, no longer holding hands.
Passing familiar streets, the wall of silence that had grown between us ever since we entered the movie — now impenetrable.
We enter the street with walled-in-gardens where city lilacs release their sweet, wild perfume then bow down.
Heavy with rain, heavy of mind I break the wall even if it means being buried in mortar and bricks.
“Where are we going?”, I probe.
As if slapped, she recoils, but after a minute, she sighs.
“I’m leaving tonight, don’t make it harder, my friend.”
“Someone else?”
“Not your business; our beginning was good; I almost fell in love; but I see no future… together.”
With nothing to add, I stop; frozen; I watch her leaving, hesitant at first, then increasing her pace as she turns the corner.
Alone, I suffocate slowly in the burdensome scent of the lilacs.
Today Kim hosts dVerse Prosery where we write prose that include a specific line of poetry in a piece of prose no longer than 144 words. I like to hit that mark exactly. The line(s) selected are:
‘…city lilacs
release their sweet, wild perfume
then bow down, heavy with rain.’
Taken from the poem ‘City Lilacs’, from Glad of These Times (Bloodaxe Books, 2007) by British writer Helen Dunmore.
In Sweden we do not get any lilacs until late May or early June, and to me it always brings back end-of-school memories which is all about ends and partings.
February 12, 2024
Björn Rudbergs writings 
That last line and your illustration…wow! I could see how someone could suffocate in that sweet sweet smell…never to face lilacs again for fear the memory of this person would come back – too painful! Well done!
Yes… that sweet smell can be a bit overpowering… and I liked what AI did from my last line.
I could smell that burdensome scent, Björn, and feel the awkward atmosphere in your prosery. The phrase ‘no longer holding hands’ already spoke volumes, but coupled with the ‘wall of silence…now impenetrable’ really set the scene. I love the way you broke up the prompt lines.
To make my own prose I always try to break up the line, but this time it was really hard…
You did it with ease. 😊
I like the metaphor you use in “heavy of mind I break the wall even if it means being buried in mortar and bricks.” People can be like walls. You do a great job of capturing the way a once fond memory can become an unpleasantry in our life. I do like the AI generated art, too.
I know… and silence can be both comforting and very oppresive.
The phrase “city lilacs” in itself is a poem to me. No matter your intent, this is still beautiful and heady.
It was a wonderful piece of poetry to borrow.
Your snapshots pull together to having us caring for the jilted lover left in the clutches of lilacs. Very seamless working in of the given line!
It was a good line, and there scent of lilac has always been filled with sorrow for me.
😦
Nice use of the line, Björn. Loved the way the story and the AI art both give the sense of claustrophobia enveloping the couple, until they break free.
I think that in these cases both of them could feel the parting building up.
A sad story. That wall seems too strong to break, but I feel like there she has a secret. 🙂
I wonder if the secret really matters… though
It don’t suppose it does matter to him–only that she’s gone. It was just a feeling I had that maybe she broke it off because of something else, maybe from her past. And, I have no idea why I feel this about your characters. 😂
So many of the prose pieces have created an atmosphere of tension and unease. There’s something about the cloying smell of lilac that lends itself to that ambiguity.
The scent is mournful I think.
Like lilies.
Nicely done. It is interesting how scents and sounds get mixed up in our feelings at times.
Scents have that effect on people.
Yes they do.
“…our beginning was good; I almost fell in love; but I see no future… together.”
I could feel that regrettable sense of “almost…but” 😔.
This alas common, most relationships fizzle out in the search for perfection.
Well written, Bjorn. A very enjoyable read.
Thank you…
Wow! I really like how you broke up the prompt lines, yet keeping it intact. Nice one
much♡love
I always try to split lines, it makes the writing easier I think,
So sad yet smelling of sweet lilacs. A mixed state for sure. Beautifully penned!
For some it is simply and end, for others a new beginning
That first phrase of walking together is immediately undone, and continually undone throughout the poem. Somber.