Van Gogh’s Sunflowers in a Vase pose gallantly on a backdrop awash in the colors of the sea Smattering, palette coatings of paints, mixed and smeared creating the portrait of my seed For my hand holds a beginning… Dried, weathered-grey and mottled, plucked from the sun star encompassing the potager’s border Face upturned to capture the intense rays bursting to meet earth and soil The rendering of my seed vibrantly expresses the emotions of life… Bright and full of promise, as well as burnt and arid … wilting, waiting to be cast into the ground, yes But…pushing against the earth heaped upon it, my seed labors to sprout and flourish Emerging with a deeper understanding of life’s spectrum Until then, the portrait remains as a reminder of the potential stored within us Sunflowers are tall and strong; always facing the sun, yet bowing their heads in humbleness ~ Missy