SweekStars 2018: Sunflowers by Daniel Helman Lee

Little imitations of the sun and its rays, bright buttercup yellow

Perky and mellow

Sold by the odd fellow

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On the streets. From this fellow these flowers I buy, when it’s raining.

And he tells me sunflowers are the reigning

Emperor of flowers, just as the sun is the reigning emperor of skies.

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But I whisper to him, close in his ear,

 At night, it’s stars that make dreams true

And he secretly smiles and says, that’s when the lilies bloom—

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And while your eyes follow the streaks of shooting stars

The sunflowers turn their heads to see the sun set—

Now would you like a sunflower or a lily?

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As always I’d like the suns, but I’d like the stars too.

He says, don’t bottle them for yourself that there’s none left for us

 And I say I wouldn’t, there’s plenty for everyone above.

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I don’t know when, but we finally fell in love, and grew a garden of suns and moons and stars.

Sweek is a global community for reading and writing stories. Short stories, poetry, fantasy, science fiction, fanfiction, or classic books—you will find thousands of them on Sweek.

Red Hen Press and the Los Angeles Review are proud to sponsor the 2018 SweekStars contest by publishing this year’s winners.