Napowrimo said: in honour of Earth Day, on Day 22, write a poem about a plant. ‘Flowers, of course, have been the subject of poems since time immemorial, and continue to be a source of much inspiration’.
I am up-to-date! Yay 
Six foot four – Sunflower
What could be
More
Outrageous
Than
A six foot four
Sunflower?
Native
Of the Americas.
Perhaps …
10 tonnes of Ai Weiwei’s
Famous porcelain sunflower seeds!
10 tonnes,
A 10th of those
Covering
Tate Modern’s
Turbine Hall.
The perfect sunshine
Yellow, fiery and proud,
Stunning spirals
Typically loud,
Typically
Times thirty-four inside,
Fifty-five outside,
Spirals.
Helianthus annuus
For birds,
For bread, medicine,
Dyes, body paints,
Sunflower oil,
Livestock feed, latex,
Yes, latex
Six foot four!
Polly Robinson © 2012
29/04/2012 at 19:14
Like the repetition and emphasis of the height. Outrageous is a very apt description of a sunflower – nothing subtle about any aspect of them!
29/04/2012 at 19:23
heh-heh – can’t help but agree with you Thomas!
Thanks for the comment
30/04/2012 at 04:48
The perfect sunshine, yellow, fiery, proud…I love sunflowers and you have written the perfect ode to them…
30/04/2012 at 05:20
Thank you Susie
30/04/2012 at 20:29
And linolenic acid?
What is the name again for that spiral pattern?
Looking forward to hearing you read this.
01/05/2012 at 06:40
Goodness, Aprille, looks like you know a lot more than I about sunflowers – I’d like to know the answers to those questions too – I just love sunflowers, did a miniscule amount of research, and wrote the poem.
Your poem in doubly rhymed couplet ‘ODE TO MY WHITE CAMELLIA’ is so beautiful and perhaps gives a clue to your interest in flowers, or is it more than an interest?
Looks like you’re into audio – I’ve only experimented with it so far – will post the recording when / if it gets done
Thank you so much for your comments.
02/05/2012 at 02:22
Lovely breakdown of the sunflower’s components!
My husband is 6 foot 6. . . as tall as the sun
02/05/2012 at 06:34
Thanks for the comments, Colette.
You’ll perhaps be able to guess how tall my husband is?
25/05/2012 at 07:42
Ah, Sunflowers! I can’t get enough of them. Fortunately that is not a problem here in the south of France.
Léa
25/05/2012 at 08:12
Ah, Lea, I guess they grow pretty well over there with all that sun
10/06/2012 at 02:29
Thank you for this fine poem & tribute to the gorgeous sunflowers…
10/06/2012 at 02:56
Glad you like it Lindy – sunflowers are one of my favourite flowers, stunningly beautiful until the rain gets on them as they’ve done in the UK over recent days, then they get to look a little sad …
22/06/2012 at 11:35
I could relate very easily to this. We had three sunflower seeds given us by a neighbour. One plant died, one struggled to about four feet, and the third reached the first floor bedroom window.
In all seriousness, though, a thoughtful and fine poem.
22/06/2012 at 11:41
heh-heh, they can be temperamental, David, hard luck with yours! Better luck next time – so worth the effort.
Thanks for commenting
22/06/2012 at 12:08
I thought for a moment I was reading a commercial ad for sunflower growers! Just kidding! A very enjoyable–and informative–read. I’ve seen fields of the giants, and they are an awesome sight!
22/06/2012 at 15:45
I’ve seen fields of them only in photos, perhaps one day Charles …
Thanks for your thoughts
22/06/2012 at 12:20
haha your last two lines really made me chuckle…sunflowers are so amazing….they say size matters …so all the more for the big ones…smiles.
22/06/2012 at 12:23
Nothing is lost in poetry, ‘eh Brian lol
22/06/2012 at 12:55
So beautiful… thanks for starting my day on a sunflower note.
22/06/2012 at 12:58
A beautiful way to welcome your day
Thanks for commenting Laurie.
22/06/2012 at 17:03
Outrageous, indeed. I love sunflowers and this is the first year we planted one in our yard. They are abundant down by the river and throughout our neighborhood. This brought to mind a drive we took a long time ago through South Dakota when they were all alive…field after field. Great sense of place.
22/06/2012 at 17:05
Thanks for your thoughts, Victoria, great prompt, thank you. One day I will see a whole field of sunflowers …
23/06/2012 at 23:31
latex? hah!
23/06/2012 at 23:34
Yep, latex – heh-heh
26/06/2012 at 15:20
A very fun read. Love the alliteration throughout, flows off the tongue nicely.
26/06/2012 at 15:22
Thank you for your thoughts
30/06/2012 at 22:32
Great playfulness and sense of wonder, and as others have mentioned the repetition is used to good effect here. Thanks Polly.
30/06/2012 at 22:35
Ah, so good to see you like it, Andy. It’s about to be published in an anthology
Thanks for commenting.
30/06/2012 at 22:38
Congratulations! I’ll look out for that.
30/06/2012 at 22:40
Details later
15/07/2012 at 22:43
Hi Andy, details as promised, Six foot four – Sunflower appears in the Brian Wrixon & Poets with Voices Strong anthology: Reflections on a Blue Planet 4 Nature’s Palette http://www.blurb.com/bookstore/detail/3387977 out now
15/07/2012 at 22:13
You know what is funny is every April I mean to jump on the Napowrimo wagon, and every year I somehow forget. Sorry I am tangential by nature- what I really wanted to say was this was a sehr groovy poem. Peace.
15/07/2012 at 22:50
Next year then? Hope so
This year was the first time I took part, I fell badly behind as you probably saw, but did catch up in the end.
Thanks for your thoughts on this poem, for some reason it is the most popular of all so far (according to the stats!) and it appears in the Brian Wrixon & Poets with Voices Strong anthology: Reflections on a Blue Planet 4 Nature’s Palette http://www.blurb.com/bookstore/detail/3387977 out now
So glad you enjoyed it.
16/07/2012 at 01:38
Yes, I hope 2013 finds me remembering to do Napowrimo, and I further hope this year finds me doing NaNoWriMo as I’ve missed the last couple of years on that. I can certainly see why the poem was so popular, and groovy on getting it into an anthology- that is always groovy. Peace.
19/07/2012 at 19:43
I’m delighted to announce that Six foot four – Sunflower appears in an Anthology by Brian Wrixon & Poets with Voices Strong called Reflections on a Blue Planet 4: Nature’s Palette
29/07/2012 at 15:05
So wonderful Polly ~ I do love the flow and vibrant voice of this piece…and I agree – outrageous these fantastically tall flowers are indeed! Fantastic that your poem was published in Reflexions… Thank you so much for directing me here so I could appreciate this. Like my Blueberry piece, it gives focus and appreciation to a gift of nature we may sometimes take for granted…. Loved it!!! ~Robyn
29/07/2012 at 15:10
Thank you so much for looking it up, Robyn, really pleased you like it. Your blueberry piece just put me in mind of it, nature, fruit/ flowers etc., these things, you’re right, we so take them for granted.
Thank you for visiting ~ Polly
18/08/2012 at 14:07
I LOVE SUNFLOWERS! Who knew they were so useful in such a lyrical fashion?
18/08/2012 at 14:32
Hah! Thank you Louann ~ this is one of my faves