Peony Garden


Back in their chairs like old alums,
bobbing, nodding in the little breeze
they smooth their skirts around their knees,
brown and shriveled from too much sun.
Dawdling like a cozy bunch
of old gals that can spare the time
for schmoozing, dallying in their prime,
these are the ladies who come to lunch.
Bosoms rolling, they raise their glasses
and hail the fullness of time, while preening
and gossiping, whispering, leaning
closer in as the rush hour passes
and when they turn their faces up
into the sky, it isn’t blue
but orange, and their time is through
so each one empties out her cup.

Now, what to do with the rotting clods
that grow behind the fence you needed
to hide the dead stuff when you weeded
to make the garden yours (not God's)
for posies hybridized by men
who love deep folds and private places
petals make in empty spaces
once each spring, then not again
until the next? 
                                    Each old broad
has won that game, shedding bloom
to make dirt-roots that matter in June.
(That, Sir, is the work of God.)

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