Live Virtual Group Session: 6PM EDT April 29th 2026

10 Comments

Thank you to everyone who joined us for this session!

For this session we read a poem “Peonies” by Danusha Laméris, posted below.

Our prompt was: “What are these strangers?”

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Peonies by Danusha Laméris

What are these strangers 
sitting on the table in their ruffled
collars. They open, close, open,
emit the scent of cracked pepper 
and honey. Magenta punctuation marks 
at which to pause. Pink commas 
against the green scrub. 
I would trade ten goats for one whiff 
of peonies opening in a vase. 
An ancient proverb says 
you should not let a woodpecker 
see you plucking a peony 
lest it peck out your eyes. 
We are afraid of happiness. 
Peonies are to loneliness 
what wind is to the trees. 
Are they animal? Mineral? 
Vegetable? They move 
as the sun moves. When I 
brought them home 
they were dark. Now, 
a whisper, balletic tulle. 
They are not diminished 
even as they turn to smoke. 

Copyright © 2026 by Danusha Laméris. Originally published in Poem-a-Day on April 1, 2026, by the Academy of American Poets.

10 thoughts on “Live Virtual Group Session: 6PM EDT April 29th 2026”

  2. michele348's avatar michele348

    What are these strangers?

    I walk around the yard… the earth waking from the coma it had been in for the past few months. Oh, how I have missed its companionship.

    Here and there, there are signs of recovery from the induced sleep. The grass is turning green from the dull brown state, and the columbine is popping up, smiling at me with its cheerful face, reminding me that all is not lost. The sweet, intoxicating scent of lilac wafts past me… I become momentarily intoxicated, forgetting about the chaos of a war that no one wins.

    I take a closer look at the flower beds that thought I had abandoned, and I see an unexpected sight so early in the season… the stems of strangers that greet me in late Spring, stay for a brief time, and then make their exit.

    The peonies… my peonies… in red, pink, and white pop open in full display, filling the yard with an undeniable scent that would make a high-priced perfume seem like it came from the discount store.

    I await their arrival, for my mind and heart need an antidote to cast aside the harshness of the world.

    I require the gentleness of Nature and I welcome these strangers who leave much too soon.

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    • al3793's avatar al3793

      Michele,

      Rather than strangers what I hear the speaker saying is that the peonies are intimate friends who can’t stay long enough. Their visit is longed for and when they arrive they “leave too soon”. Companionship is missed but the stems of strangers herald their pending return. Even a brief stay is an antidote to the doings of a harsh world. No doubt your speaker requires excursion into the gentleness of nature.

      Missed companionship. Recovery from induced sleep.stems of strangers, brief stay, an antidote to cast aside the harsh world. Require gentle nature strangers leave too soon.

      Andre

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      • michele348's avatar michele348

        Strangers becoming friends in a common space shared. Each thankful for the existence of the other. In Nature’s world, all things are possible. You are wise in your summary.

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  4. al3793's avatar al3793

    [Lameris’ poem satisfies Pascal’s admonition to always have something beautiful in your heart and for me on my mind.]

    What are these strangers?

    What or Who?

    How does this close look at the beauty

    of nature’s pallet draw me into the beauty

    of human beings around me

    that I don’t know?

    The slowing down

    the close looking

    the careful listening

    has trained me

    to come closer to those

    I do not know.

    The look beneath the words,

    the facades,

    the scars helps discern

    the deeper beauty

    lying within these strangers.

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    • michele348's avatar michele348

      So much remains hidden under the top layer, under the assumptions placed by society. To look more closely, to listen to the words, but more importantly to the silence, gives us a pathway to the deeper beauty lying within.

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      • al3793's avatar al3793

        As the peonies and their intoxicating aroma (along with the lilacs) provide an antidote to the toxicity of the world, so does the slowing down, the looking, the listening, the moving closer. Thank you Michele.

        Liked by 1 person

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