Thursday, April 21, 2011

French painter Henri Fantin-Latour 1836-1904

Vase de Pivoines 1881

It's the season for my favorite flower, the peony. 
Well, not quite yet — my bush is only about a foot tall.

Do you also hurry, half-dressed and barefoot, into the garden,
   and softly,
      and exclaiming of their dearness,
       fill your arms with the white and pink flowers,

with their honeyed heaviness, their lush trembling,
    their eagerness
      to be wild and perfect for a moment, before they are
        nothing, forever?
 ~ excerpt from Peonies, by Mary Oliver


I have a very hard time pronouncing "pivoines."

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

What a great resource!