Where sunflowers are red

You walk along city's harbor nipping
of cool lake & sunset dipping faint yellow

But your eyes are loveless
& your hands are battered by yesterday's rain

The city grime drapes your robe grey
& thoughts dark dusty distraught

Even the garden of red sunflowers
are dry bulbs crusted in sawdust

Each petal a weeping eye
Each crown an empty castle

When did you forget that the world
is golden as sunflowers

When did you believe that soot &
cinders are your skin instead of wine & salt

When did you decide that you are
a shadow with parched roots, toothless mouth   

You are not made of wheels nor steel knives
Your hands are not made just to scrap & toil

Stand upright & shake out webs & dead twigs
Remove those eyelids of black misery

Wake up & accept sky's gift of light & darkness
Strike your breasts red, rage your words loud

You are blessed with golden sunflowers
inside, spiral patterns of velvet beauty & seeds

glorious as your flower soul

Artist:  Lisa Graham

Posted for Imaginary Garden for Real Toads - Featuring Lisa Graham's Art - I am hosting this feature over the weekend ~
and Kerry's Find Your Own Creative Space

Thanks for the visit ~

Marly's face

Looking through Circumstances

Artist:   Lisa Graham

is a study of sorrow-
black sparrow eyes are somber lit

checks are red rouged to hide
skeletal shoulders slumping slowly

she hardly notices dappled morning light
nor flowers blooming fresh by her chair-

her eyebrows are stitched to worries
over the dollars she sends every 2 weeks-

her family leans on her-
husband, child, mother, siblings, nieces &

nephews, the list of needs is long
when all she wants to do is travel back home

& be a mom & wife & eldest daughter instead
of primary breadwinner

in a foreign country, working as lowly
paid migrant, where her alcoholic absentee father's eyes

are blurry, hers is firm in faith, unmeasurable
where her husband's chin is frail, hers is iron pointed -

every night, she prays that she stays healthy
enough to work & save, work & save - 

last time i saw her, I reminded her of the silly
things we did when she stayed with us briefly

& for a moment, she was young carefree
woman with flowers clipped on her hair-

if i had a paintbrush, i'd have framed this moment
to remind her

the sun is blushing yellow & vibrant
- & for me, an instruction that this is a gift -

Posted for OpenLinkNight of D'verse Poets Pub ~ Thanks for the visit ~
I will be featuring this artist this weekend at Real Toads ~  Watch out for it ~

Shared with WriteEditPublish- What's in a Face ~