Sonnet #34

These are all the reasons that I adore

Sunflowers: First, the plant is quick

post-frost to grow into a towering spire;

Second, the root is burly thick

It digs a mine and punches down

Veracity will rise; Third, the bloom

before it blossoms gazes following the sun

As if to build a mirror to the holiest and swoon

When it faints, complete, a weeping beauty

Seeds the shape of teardrops, surrendering

to duty; Fourth, the rotting comes, grey and sooty

Mold climbs up and through, devouring

Where roots dug low, the worms appear

the stalks remain, as cemetery spears