Sunflower, Deep-Rooted...A Poem

Orange, yellow petals halo dark circles, seek

the flaming sun from which they take their name, their lives.

Who can understand what the golden flower knows;

how soundly grounded, rooted, fixed in place it is.

All see its cheery face consorting with the wind,

turning toward the light, while hundreds of white roots

cluster in a large, hidden ball bigger than its bloom,

buried in the darkness away from casual eyes.

Each separate strand, a serpentine hand, clasping

nourishment, anchors tall stalk and heaven-reaching,

seeded head, rock-solid in the nurturing soil.

This subtle, unseen rootedness, melding firmly

with earthy planet's flesh, while seeking highest sky...

metaphor of the life of man, what might, should be;

the union of transcendence, earth's reality.

Copyright by Don Gray