Alamgir Hashmi

Peonies

Now that the garden has been bulldozedby local managers, the jasmine
has been put to the ground for now,
lest the man in Burgstrasse 19 admirethe scent he feels coming throughthe clear window across the seas.
Done with gardenia, I toyed awhile
with black-eyed susan (even drank it
dry in Kentucky), so that every other yearall would appear to come …