NUIT BLANCHE /
re-membering
peonies
STOLEN BLOOM / peonies
Spring silk unfurls.
Heavy, lush, decadent.
King of Flowers,
yet bitter roots lie hidden.
Sweetness on the tongue,
bitterness in the blood.
Ornament. Remedy.
One body, two fates.
Soothed restless livers.
She perfumed awakens life,
inked the verses of poets.
Clipped for foreign gardens,
ground to powders in apothecaries.
She remembers both roles:
queen and healer,
Carried across continents,
longing for the soil
that first named her.
春絲舒展。
繁華，奢麗。
花中之王，
苦根潛藏。
甘甜，苦澀。
華飾。良藥。
一身，兩命。
平肝止痛。
她芬芳人生，
詩人筆下流轉。
剪入異國花園，
碾為藥舖之粉。
她記得雙重角色：
花后與醫者，
漂泊於洲際，
仍渴望那片土壤，
最初為她命名。
Paeonia suffruticosa
Peony (牡丹 Mudan / 芍藥 Shaoyao)
Native to: China (cultivated since at least 1st millennium BCE, revered as “King of Flowers”)
Taken by: Jesuit missionaries (17th century), expanded by 18th–19th century European botanists and horticultural collectors
Dispersed to: France, UK, Japan, later North America; now grown worldwide as ornamental and medicinal plant
Herbal Taste: Bitter, slightly sweet, astringent
Herbal Use: Nourishes Blood, regulates menstruation, clears Heat, alleviates pain, calms Liver