Erica Mapp

Sunflowers

(Dried Sunflower Stalks, a painting by Vincent Van Gogh)

Seedy sunflowers, modest as they are,

Symbolize friendship, love and gratitude.

Savor this gift. It’s not much, but perhaps

Sincerity is all we ever need.

Since friendship is so poor and what we get

Sometimes is not enough to meet our needs,

Small joys should not be scorned as if they’re weeds.

Severed from roots, no earthly flowers live,

Still, cut sunflowers, like the love of man,

Strike a high yellow note. Honest and rough,

Sunflowers smile with such beatitude,

Simply all heart; their hearts portray them best.

So if love fades, its buried seeds will live;

Sure as the Spring, these seeds have more to give. 

Public Domain Image Courtesy of the Metropolitan Museum of Art

Artist and poet Erica Mapp, originally from Trinidad, lives in New York City. Her poetry has been published in anthologies and periodicals in the U.S. and abroad. She is working on a poetry manuscript and a book of essays based on the paintings of Vincent Van Gogh. She is a Cave Canem Fellow. In 2017 she received a Walker Scholarship from the Fine Arts Work Center in Provincetown.