Sunflower

She lived her life in silence, her body bathed in sorrows
While her mind was dipped in regrets, of the future,
The past and the ever so deadly present. She slept with
An eye open to the world, watching her back
For she was afraid of betrayal before sun rise, a lack of something
To believe in, so she refused to believe in the impossible
Thing called happiness, she couldn't be happy today.
She took her first steps outside, it seemed the leaves fell on her
Heart, a perennial weight pushing on her chest until she could no
Longer breathe, the trees shaded her anguish, the sun
Shined for the very last time through leaves of gray, this was
Not what she imagined her life to be, inevitable doesn't
Make it hurt less. Laughter, I know she heard it, not
A new sound but a forgotten one, how beautiful it was.
She looked up to a sight of unimaginable proportions,
A sunflower in full bloom, amidst a world so dark, it shines so bright.
And she stares and wonders how it's possible for a
Creature to overcome death in exchange for the most extraordinary
Of lives. And she can breathe again. The world once told her
That to find yourself is to find something like yourself,
A survivor of the madness, and study it, for the battle you
Fight now is the same battle it has overcome, so
She studied this sunflower, let it sway in the wind
Like a wind chime, touched it as if it were delicate matter,
She stared and it stared back through her sadness
And to her soul, and she knew. She smiled. And she
Could finally breathe in, she stood up and found
Herself in the darkness, lit up by a ray of life,
Nothing would ever be the same, but better.
Stumbling out of a black and white pit, she found color
In a rainbow, sometimes finding yourself is worth
The pain to get there, and she knew she would be okay.

~Kai Alexander Means