Poetry Explorer- Classic Contemporary Poetry, THE SUNFLOWER WOMAN, by JANET B. MONTGOMERY MCGOVERN


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Classic and Contemporary Poetry

THE SUNFLOWER WOMAN, by                    
First Line: As the sunflower here in this strange island
Last Line: That part of me which is god.
Subject(s): Happiness; Sun; Sunflowers; Joy; Delight


AS the sunflower here in this strange island
Craves for the light of the sun,
So do I crave for the sunlight of joy
And for my own following of it.
Not to be a "woman of joy"—
The joy of men who can pay for it
With wine and with gold;
But my own joy, the following of my own sun;
This I long for, and will have.
As the sunflower dyes her petals
With the rays of the sun she catches;
So will I dye the garments of my soul
Golden with the gold that women miss
Who take gold from men
Who hold them lightly;
Or from husbands
Who feed them, and clothe, and house,
That they may be the mothers of sons.
For me the wine of the sea-breeze;
The gold that scatters the mists at dawn.
That crimsons the sea at even.
My roof the vault of the heaven;
My food what I draw from the sea,
Or pluck in the deeps of the wood.
Of clothing I reck not—sea-weed or leaves—
Or rags that beggars have cast.

What matter, when joy has come at last,
With the finding of freedom;
With the owning of my own spirit?
Or does my spirit own me?
Together like lovers we'll wander.
That part of me which men knew
And that part of me new-found.
As the sunflower turns to the sun,
So will I follow my own spirit;
That part of me which is God.





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