Prairie Views:
Showy Sunflower

                                "...they
are everywhere in the diligent
   cornfield rising and swaying
       in their reliable
finery..."  
      – Mary Oliver, "Morning Glories"






Even by the thick morning fog
   bent as if laboring at an angle
      of their long-leaved hips
           they show themselves

by early autumn the highest
    players among the prairie bluestem,
         the long exited compass plant,
              the twining cow parnsip.

They bloom late as the famous
    do when they wait for the crowd
       to settle into their easy seats
           then lift up their faces

like flower heads, all made up
    by the glitter of sunlight
         in love with the quiet music
            of themselves.