Peonies at dusk

An image from book 2 of my Expressive flowers series, It will printed alongside the following poem.

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 luxuriance:
I had to prop them up with stakes and twine.

The moist air intensifies 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 from Constance(1993)