​"The Physician's Gift"

by Brian G. Daigle 
​
Amidst the ashes, rubble deep,
There bloomed a peony.
Atop the blackest night of death 
Its bloom spread forth to me. 

How it was planted then and there
Never shall we know,
But unmistakable to all who passed
Is how its beauty shone. 

Its vibrancy, resilient life,
It beckons me to gaze,
To stumble forth with tired legs 
To set my heart ablaze. 

A blaze it was that burned this land, 
And blaze the peony sends.
The first destructive, pain to bear, 
The second, a light without end. 

A hope, a future, the birth of life,
Where death so close had been,
But light to conquer all the dark
And breath pour forth again. 

A physician, this flower, just like her name,
To heal an achy heart. 
Tis light to the eyes,
Tis sun to the skin,
Tis health for every part.