Sunflower
Sunflower
Rising over the garden,
A helium sun on a string.
Parading above the lilies,
A crown fit for a king.
An eye with golden lashes,
A bonnet around a face,
A sprinter sporting a medal
For winning a backyard race.
A paintbrush dipped in lemon,
A splash of juicy light,
A toothless, sunny smile
Without a shadow in sight.
A nodding head grown weary,
A platter of snacks on a string,
A sprinkle of secret promises
To rise again next spring.
(c) Elizabeth Steinglass, 2013, all rights reserved
I wrote this last summer but I was reminded of it when this year’s sunflowers opened their bright, shiny faces.
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I really love this, Liz. I think in addition to the pure enjoyment factor, as a teacher it is fabulous for teaching metaphor. Can I user it?
Absolutely!
Lovely, Liz! I too enjoy the metaphors.
Thanks! It was fun to try to come up with lots of metaphors, instead of focusing on just one.
“A helium sun on a string” – So many wonderful images here! This poem makes me float, then grounds me with the platter of seeds. Thanks for sharing!
Thanks, Robyn. It felt really important to me to end with the seeds.
“A nodding head grown weary…” Oh, I love this image! I love the progression of your poem especially the hopeful ending. Lovely!
Doesn’t it seem like just as they really bloom, they get so heavy they can’t hold their heads up?
This is fabulous! I especially like the “helium sun on a string,” the “golden lashes,” and the “sprinkle of secret promises / to rise again next spring.”
Thank you!
I’ve been writing some flower poems, so especially love your sunflower words, Liz. They are amazing to grow, aren’t they? And do you finally put the heads out for the birds? I love “An eye with golden lashes,
A bonnet around a face”. Thank you!
I wrote about sunflowers last week. Love the line about dipping the paintbrush into lemon. This is a great model poem for students. Thanks for sharing.
I tried a Fib poem since the sunflower head is a Fibonacci design. http://reflectionsontheteche.wordpress.com/2013/07/19/summer-sunflower/
I lovelovelove this poem…and sunflowers, too! (I’m bookmarking this post and tagging it “metaphor!!”
Margaret, what a great idea to use a Fib for a plant that Fibs!! I wrote a fib for Fractal Broccoli (do an image search, it’s fascinating) for the same reason!!
Very impressive! The sunflower and your writing too. I’m especially impressed how you found such descriptive metaphor while maintaining your rhyme.