I see lilac bushes on almost every farm I drive by. Few people remember why all of these bushes were planted around American farms. They were planted in and around 1865 following the assassination of Lincoln in Washington. My farm was one of those.

A brilliant poem by the mourning poet Walt Whitman inspired them.

The lilacs on our farm are over 150 years old; they were among those planted to honor Lincoln, who was sacrificed for his determination to keep the union intact.

I often think of Lincoln, especially when our lilacs bloomed; I am glad he did not live to see his country come to love a president and sexual predator who lies, cheats, steals and spreads hatred, division and fear all over the country.

Lincoln was a controversial leader on his own, but he was also a moral, generous, and compassionate person. How tragic that those values have fallen so far away.

Lincoln never gave up on America. I won’t either.

Walt Whitman wept when Lincoln died. I imagine he would cry again at our new politics, which seek to tear the union apart and honor lies and cruelty instead.

Lincoln always thought of things beyond himself and his own life.

He thought of what was best for his country and gave his life for that. What would our leaders today give their lives for?

Below, in verse from his beautiful poem When Lilacs Last In the Dooryard Bloom’d, Whitman devoted the lilac bush to his slain President, and millions of Americans – farmers especially – planted one in their yards.

“In the dooryard fronting an old farm-house, near the white-wash’de palings,
Stands the lilac bush, tall-growing, with heart-shaped leaves of rich green,
With many a pointed blossom, rising, delicate, with the perfume strong I love,
With every leaf a miracle……and from this bush in the dooryard,
With delicate-color blossoms and heart-shaped leaves of rich green,
A sprig, with its flower, I break.”

When the Lilacs Bloomed, by Walt Whitman