Sunflower
Behind the house
Across the dirt road
It is a husk of its
Past self
Seeds scattered on
The ground before it
It is cold
It will grow colder
The sunflower will sway
In the wind
Be bitten by frost
Its death not the end
Of its decay
In the dust
Snow and frost
The seeds shall take shelter
For many
Things are born
On the cusp of deep winter
We know the seeds make a promise
Yet we cannot hear the promise
Drowned out by the winters howl
We wonder if winter and the sunflower
Have a covenant
Where its decay
Is only the beginning
Of the story
Gene G. McLaughlin 2005
