THE PEONY (after Mary Oliver’s “The Summer Day”)

Tight, round bud
solid with promise
shell of green sepals
suddenly splits
one crimson petal escapes
flag-bearer urging its fellows forth.
Sudden pop
ruffle-edged glories once packed tight
shake themselves out like crinolines
lay open to reveal
astonishing yellow stamens at their base.
In the space of a few brief
glorious days
the entire wild and precious life of the bloom plays out.

So I ask you
what will you do
with your one wild and precious life?