For the Peony Blossom (with a tip o' the hat to T.S. Eliot)

I am just putting the finishing touches on a new issue of the Tang Spirit Newsletter.   This issue features a poetic exchange between me and Bai Juyi about the peony blossom.  You can read the full issue here.    

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In the meantime, here's a little taste.

For the Peony Blossom

Between the intention and the act

Comes this outburst of color

Right here at the plinth of summer

Between the idea

And the bud’s first forming

Between the ants’ travail

And the petals unfolding

Falls the blossom’s brief life span

    

     In the kingdom of the garden

Between the conception

And the creation

Between the emotion

And the response

The peony unravels

     Life is very short

Between desire

And satisfaction

Between abundance

And decline

Each peony manages to

Approach the sublime

     Here in the kingdom of the garden

As well (I might add)

This is the way

The world extends itself

From day to day

In brief dramatic display

And with a sufficiency

Of blessings for all

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Photos courtesy of M. Bridge