Julie Ellinger Hunt’s most recent poem to appear here was “Forbidden” (March 2017)

Fleur
By Julie Ellinger Hunt

As the petals begin to open for the sun,
it is you I see opening.
Not to me. Not to this. Not to anyone really.

But to this enormous world you hunger for.

Each speck you call a star is a moment,
a piece of this life you can absorb or have for as long
as you want it and take with you to scar your
body with beauty.

And while you are that flower, it is me
that tends to the garden, or tries to, as you
push me away when your petals fold inward,

the sun no longer facing you.
It is me that feeds the soil of your
bed.

It is me even when you tell me to go,
your stars fading with the dark settling in.

And even though you will survive just fine
without me, dear wildflower, I’d like to think
you would miss me on dry, dark days.