SUNFLOWERS

Dot of the Earth, hermit merchant
market the seeds that you sow
out of your heart, fertile shells
weeden eyes and windmills

almost unnoticed though relished at one time
how strange you grow north from south
taking root while lifting
with only a smile to bring

alien to what is now
slow sink in the wheel
perhaps someday maybe extinct
or trampled over by thoughtlessness

Sunflowers! do not grow here
you will only fade or be abandoned
rusting ornament with no eyes to see
all the vibrant yellows and oranges
surrounding such precious essence

the envious pests with hose in hand
attach to your beauty with a desperate hunger
while night eats at your stem

Dot of the Earth! you will have lustre
if you stay where you are, hushed in
some silent oneness with world

How you survived the orchards, a labyrinth
immense and hostile. Dot of the Earth!
you will always be a mystery