There's some sort of anthropomorphism in there... upon his diagnosis

There were sunflowers in my mailbox

after work today, and no don't go there.

There is no lover with gumption enough. 

Rather, they were packed in a cardboard

box and shipped the breadth of a country

which is 15,840,000 times laid cut to bloom. 

You aren't supposed to send flowers

until the loved one is gone, and I 

wonder if she knows something I don't

but I free them anyway. Yellow-

tipped and new and never for scent

but for a straight back and bold smile.

So there they sit in 7 o'clock light

with cut cords, better for both our breathing.

I set them in water and wait and

watch (want) for them to stretch

their limbs a little because nothing with so

much life in it should be put in a wooden box

so soon. 

© Sarah Fletcher, 2014

Three Sunflowers in the field
Photo by 3268zauber
from Wikimedia Commons