A peony for you

photo by KTM

by Kevin T McEneaney

Peonies are not instant protégées.

You will need to get dirt in fingernails,

and possess patience three years ticking

before any satisfaction arrives

to your eyes, or passing, gawking strollers.

It’s fragrant flowers are bisexual.

For overcast nights, they close their petals.

They are hopeless high Carbon 3 addicts.

Over 292 compounds

have been extracted through genteel torture.

If the tip of a bud is castrated,

no new buds will develop that season.

They have single, double, triple versions

of the flowers we all adore with work!

Kevin T McEneaney

Author of The Enclsed Garden, Longing, and other books