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This poem began as an exercise in multiple perspectives. You write a few lines about one thing, and then start over. You focus on different senses, different perspectives, different ways of relating to, thinking about, learning from, or otherwise experiencing the object of your regard.
I chose for my subject of this exercise a cluster of Matilija peonies, native to California, that bloom each Spring in one of my local parks. I know they’re there, but every year I’m stunned by them again, in part because they grow so tall, well over my head, and in part because their blooms are also striking in size, with large thin fluttery white petals and huge yellow centers. I love them, but I don’t think they care much about me! Hence the opening line of the poem.
After trying a few other forms, I settled on this abcb rhyme scheme and tetrameter/ trimeter pattern reminiscent of ballad poetry, which was traditionally sung.
Please leave your thoughts in the comments, and if you’d like more creativity in your life, consider joining me for my upcoming 6-week Creative Fire Course!
No Peony
No peony needs my zealous praise
to make her leisurely ascent
through prickly weeds and desert scrub,
her bloom its own event.
Paper-thin and twice as white
she floats in my enchanted gaze.
Her head tilts queenly toward the light
and dips to drink its rays.
Loosening her creamy fist,
her yellow core beams bliss.
I hear its unabashed singing
for the bees’ voracious kiss.
Never rushed yet always true,
she waltzes tall as if by chance
her favorite lover might appear
to claim the final dance.
I’m smiling all the way through this loving expression of the beautiful peony! Absolutely love it! ❤️