Winter Garden Sunflower - George Stenger

[Larry Robinson]

Winter Garden Sunflower

Once lithe, tall, beautiful
In her graceful, swaying presence
She is now the stiff, bent Crone,
Messenger of the Oracle

Once holding up her offerings 
Of butter yellow blooms to her namesake,
She now stands alone amidst her fallen seeds
Waiting for the rebirth, the sprouting

Her silhouette against the dawning sky
Holds both past beauty and present, stark reality
Not hopelessness, no, not hopelessness
But hope, and faith, and love of new life’s promise

	- George Stenger