Ode to My Sunflower

by Charity Carlson Hirst

Reaching up, she emerged from the brown earth,

a young baby seedling taking her time.

The tiny green shoot announcing her birth

a new miracle of life, so sublime.

Sweet little bud looking for the sunlight,

greets every morning by facing the east.

Tracing its path to the west every night, 

her steady gaze at the sun never ceased

‘til she burst into a flowering bloom.

Bright yellow petals, warm as an embrace,

like the late summer sun, they both illume.

Perfect spirals of seeds freckle her face.

Now she grows toward the light, beacon of hope,

standing tall and strong, brave heliotrope.