A few months ago I was gifted a pack of sunflower seeds from a clothing store of the same name (Sunflowers). I thought how wonderful to have a small crop of sunflowers in the garden, so I threw a handful in the soil and hoped for the best. I watered and waited, and was finally rewarded with a small sprout. I watched that small sprout grow and grow and grow into a spectacular plant full of hope and wonder.
Just One
by Rose Cappelli
Just as I was about to give up on the sunflower seeds,
one took root—
a small shoot branched out,
grew up, up, up
strong and straight and thick,
past the window
beyond the roof line.
One day it bowed to the roses, caught its breath,
then straightened and continued on.
The finches and I are waiting
for buds
and blooms
and glorious, wondrous seeds—
from just that one.
Then one day it collapsed from all that wonder. I felt as if I had lost a friend. I cut off as many blooms as I could and am once again watching and waiting. I’ll be sure to share the seeds with the finches.
Becky has this week’s Poetry Friday round up at Sloth Reads.
Imagine the Possibilities 
Love this, Rose! We are (hoping) to move into our very own home sometime this year and I am so excited to be able to plant flowers and grow a garden. Thanks for sharing and have a great week!
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How nice! You got a sunflower AND a poem from the store.
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Oh, I love the hope in this, Rose! Randy and I took a pic this morning in front of a few sunflowers!
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Thank you, Laura.
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Rose, what a sweet story about your sunflower seed packet and your persistence, as well as the plant’s. I love these lines:
“One day it bowed to the roses, caught its breath,
then straightened and continued on.”
I was so sad when it “collapsed from all that wonder.” Well done. I hope you get some seeds from it. I used to grow sunflowers in my garden with the seeds from the previous year. Enjoy!
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Thanks, Denise. Yes, hopefully I’ll get some seeds for next year.
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Rose, this is so lovely, simple, full of optimism and grief. I’m wondering about your form…is “just that one.” the end, or is your prose epilogue part of the poem? I think it works that way!
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Thanks, Heidi. I did intend the end of the poem to be “Just that one” since I wrote it before it fell. But maybe I’ll rework the end of the post into more of a poem and continue. Thanks for the idea and for reading.
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Isn’t this just the way the world sometimes works? You hope and plan and encourage…and the end turns out to not be what you imagined. But there’s always next summer, and you now know to provide some extra support! I agree with Heidi that the epilogue seems like a part of the poem.
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Thanks, Mary Lee.
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Sunflowers are the essence of summer for me with their bright yellow petals. I wish you lots of seeds to share with the finches! Thank you for sharing your poem today.
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Rose, I have a couple of seed packs of wildflowers and want to plant them. You gave me an incentive after seeing your beautiful sunflower grow so tall. Even though it collapsed, what it gave you was such a beauty for your vase. Your poem is full of hope and a surprise that comes from waiting.
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