White peonies

Peonies at Dusk

White peonies blooming along the porch

send out light

while the rest of the yard grows dim.

Outrageous flowers as big as human

heads!  They're staggered

By their own luxuriousness.  I had

to prop them up with stakes and twine.

The moist air intensified their scent,

and the moon moves around the barn

to find out what it's coming from.

In the darkening June evening

I draw a blossom near, and bending close

search it as a woman searches

a loved one's face.

Jane Kenyon