Slowly, they bud, as the lilacs fade, as the days grow warm and long

One by one, they pop open, bursting bright raspberry shades across the lawns

They open wider, flinging ruffles and ripples across our paths

They are generous benefactors, stacking pillows of pink and magenta in front of our eyes

The slanting sun shimmers in the distance as the bowers of bright pink smile and bounce in the spring breeze

And if you look deeper, inside – as often happens in life – you find that more than the surface color and shine exists. Farther in, tucked away, only slightly hinted at, there lives a completely different color and texture, hidden from first view, but ever so beautiful and surprising as you peer beneath the garish surface of a peony.