Mock Orange
© By Jean Bleakney
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Mock Orange
12th July 1998
As if it couldn’t bear the weight of itself
—as if it were a glass of milk gone sour—
the double-flowered Philadelphus
has suddenly reneged on summer.
The tight-clipped lawns and patios of Ulster
are littered with rescinded petals
in overlapping clumps, like piecemeal shrouds.