These Peonies
By Patrice Boyer Claeys
It's #tbt! Enjoy this great one from SWWIM Every Day's archives!
From just-June’s
generous sun
come snouts through solid
soil like hogs
tracking truffles
in tangled leaf litter,
red rockets from
subterranean pads
borne up
on blind bandy-legged stems,
obeying orders
of otherworldly wills
to defy the downward
drag of gravity,
these spiky shoots
upstretched and thick
uncurl their curd-like
culver buds,
transformed to feathers
flounce of doves.Patrice Boyer Claeys is a Chicago poet with five published collections. Her two most recent books with collaborator Gail Goepfert explore the world of fruits and vegetables through verse and photography. Patrice’s work has appeared in many journals, including Tupelo Quarterly, North Dakota Review, NELLE, The Night Heron Barks, Passion Fruit Review, Scapegoat Review, and Tiny Moments Anthology. She has been nominated for both the Pushcart (2019) and Best of the Net (2014, 2019, 2022). See patriceboyerclaeys.com.
SWWIM Every Day accepts poetry translations for publication consideration. Please see swwim.org/submit for the full guidelines.
Are you a SWWIMmer with literary news to share (publication/feature/award/book/book review)? We’d love to shout out your accomplishments in our Weekly Spotlight! Please email swwimmiami@gmail.com with a link to your news. (No DMs on any social media platforms, please.)
Follow us on Instagram, Facebook, Twitter/X, and Bluesky for more updates—and visit our website to see past, present, and future readings & events.
**We do our best to preserve the integrity of each poem; however, due to programming limitations, some poems may read differently on a mobile phone and in certain browsers. For best viewing, use Chrome on a desktop/laptop.