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The old sunflower
lies on its side, season done
time on earth over
The strength of its youth
long since dried away to dust
its green gone to white
The ground awaits it
eager for its nourishment
waiting for decay
once, during summer
it was tall and strong and green
face following sun
one brown eye to see
yellow fringe marked its outline
held by strong green stem
but all is gone now
a victim of the seasons
soon to feed the worms
part of the cycle
the old must die to give life
to that which will come
its seeds on the ground
carried by birds far away
eaten by squirrels
in their excrement
they give life to the new year
new sunflowers grow
It's been a while since I've done the Friday Haiku thing. My friend Mark had this huge sunflower in his backyard, planted by his younger son, 6 year old Markie. Markie was distraught a few days ago when he saw, as he came down for breakfast, that his sunflower was laying on its side in the garden, color and strength, gone and faded. Mark explained to him that the seeds of that giant flower would feed animals, the body of that flower would feed the earth, and some of those seeds would find their way to fertile ground and grow again in the spring. Markie thought about that for a while, frown on his face, lips pursed in concentration. Then his eyebrows shot up, he smiled and said, "Okay!" and ran upstairs to get dressed for school.
Kids are so resilient.
Peace.
23 comments:
Nice Lou!
Love the story that goes with it,
G
xx
Love this story Lou. we have giant sunflowers on our front yard too. 3 of them planted by the kids. It has been really cool seeing it's life cycle from seed to seed.
Wonderful haiku, wonderful story of inspiration.
Great one Lou, and to top it all off it's about Sunflowers - my favourite flower!!!!!!
Yes. kids are resilient aren't they.
Kids are resilient because they have no sense of their of mortality.
Lucky bastards!
(Seriously, though, it is a nice haiku and story....)
Kids are resilient-even the senstitive ones. They eventually accept things the way they are and move on. Cool haiku.
that's a brilliant retelling of the story. it boggles the mind sometimes how easy and simple things are for kids. sometimes i think grown-ups should be a bit more like that too.... have a cool weekend dear louceel!
That's really nice. My 6-year-old get upset about about flowers dying, too.
I love where you can find inspiration, Lou
I've said it before but Lou...
Top Man!
(Just seen your comment over at Tash's)
I love sunflowers!
Mind you, who doesn't?
Yes. kids are resilient and you have such a fantastic way with words.
What a gorgeous celebration of an incredible flower! Really lovely.
That's how the death of my turtle was decribed to me when I was 5. It still didn't help. ;-)
For a visual of sorts: http://fightingwindmills.wordpress.com/2008/10/17/f-f-friday-16/
It is a day of sunflowers.
Hi Lou,
Love the poem and the story. Sunflowers are a flower close to my heart. The backside of my hill is called Sunflower Terrace because they grow wild here. I’ve used them in a lot of my works.
Vikki
Okay, first I must congratulate you on including poo in a haiku and having be tasteful...
I think this is one of the things in which I may have failed my kids -- I would have been likely to just tell them that's what happens and life isn't fair.
When the guinea pig died we buried it in the desert and piled rocks on it to slow down the coyotes' snacking. I really wanted to just chuck it in the garbage...
Saw your comment over at Tash's thank you for spreading Adrian's message.
I love sunflowers, just saying the word makes me think of warmth.
A beautiful piece, Lou. That is so sweet he perked up and was happy with the explanation.
Reading your post makes me long for summer again already :)
What a great way to describe death.
I was just outside with Wynnie, who was despondent about her morning glories dying off and all I had for her was "it happens". Wish I'd have read this post earlier!
It's funny, I never questioned it as a child, but I hate it now. I prefer Spring, when new life starts to grow again ...
You painted that beautifully, especially with the restriction of syllables. Great piece. I was especially touched by "part of the cycle the old must die to give life
to that which will come".
I love your Friday Haiku's. And I agree with Julie in that you tastefully writing about excrement!
Toodles~
myst_72: Thank you, gina.
Eve Grey: A real life lesson.
Patsy: Thank you, ma'am.
Tash: Yeah. Kids are great.
Christy: Thank you, Christy:
Joyce-Anne: Thank you, Joyce-Anne.
Shadow: Thank you, Shadow. I shall.
Cathy: Some kids have a hard time with change - and dying flowers represent change.
m+b: I keep lookin'.
Trac: Oh, Thank oyu, Trac.
Jenn in Holland: Thank you, Jenn. And welcome.
Ayewonder: That explains SOME things ...
Emily: Cool.
Redchair: How neat. Everybody loves sunflowers.
Julie: Tasteful poo reference anyone??
Hockeychic: A warm and sunny, sunny day.
Momisodes: Me, too. I don't like winter so much any more.
Hyphen Mama: If it comes up in conversation again ....
Jientje: I like the Sring as well - when things start growing.
abritdifferent: Thank you, Siobhan.
Employee: Toodles to you, too, Linda.
Lou, that was so beautiful.
You are right, kids are resilliant and amazing!
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