Sunflowers and Roses

A short debrief of how much one friend can make all the difference.

You are but a sunflower, my dear

And I am only a rose

You tower, big and bright, among all the other flowers

And me, low to the ground, covered in unpleasant thistles

You shine so bright

you stand so tall that I have no choice but to look up to you

It amazes me how a plant can be so perfect

But you tell me

“No, my love, no

I am not without flaws my dear

You see, I am sensitive

my brightness and beauty attracts the nastiest of parasites and the deadliest of diseases

They want to destroy the beauty I am blessed with”

But I could care less

Even your flaws looked beautiful to me

How I wish you could see yourself the way I do

Perfect, flawless

The gorgeous creation that you are

Little did I know you did

You were simply trying to show me we all have our perfect imperfections

And yet you’re the only one who’s beauty doesn’t plague me with comparison

You’re the only one who’s perfection isn’t what makes me feel imperfect

Because you spread your beauty

like petals on a flower

Your love and confidence is contagious

It affects everyone it touches

like pollen in the Spring

How is it that we were planted in the same garden

and yet grow so differently?

All I see are the days of scorching sun and storms

Where you thank the sun for its light

and the storms for their rain

you see how they help you grow

where all I see is one endeavor after another to blow me down

to drown me

Never will I understand why you see so much beauty in me

with my color so undesirable

my thorns so unlovable

And yet, you make me feel like the prettiest flower in the garden

I don’t know what I would do without you

No amount of warning could’ve prepared me for your departure

But you are a seasonal flower

And the winter came, bitter and cold

to take your presence away

You told me the happiness you brought me was only temporary

It filled me with sorrow

But regardless of my efforts, I could not hold onto you

You slipped away like soil between my fingers

And I sat there, rooted in the same place as I had always been

Except this time, without you

But being at your lowest

Constantly looking down

Makes you take notice of the ground

the space where you once stood

We both grew from the same soil

except you chose to grow

and I chose to wilt

The only thing that separated me and you was the belief of significance

The sense of purpose

I wondered why you couldn’t see yourself the way I did

why you voiced to me your faults where I thought there was none

It never occurred that you might view me the same way

All I had to do was see me the way you did

love me the way you had

think about and view my circumstances you way you do

It didn’t happen overnight

nor did it in the span of a season

But by the time you returned

I stood as tall as you did

We shone equally as brightly

As we stood side by side in that garden

grown from the same soil

And is there anything more beautiful than a sunflower and a rose?

Reviews

[emmajoygreen]

Such valuable content, long - yes, but worth reading to discover why you felt and thought by the finish.
Seems you were overshadowed and bewildered. However, dear writer, you learned, albeit sadly about self and the other in what appears to be a long relationship. Your last few lines near whisper the sad realisation and acceptance of how things are.
This could be a story, could be prose verse, but whichever: rather than a long block of words, could be paragraphed in whatever length you think appropriate. Hope you'll forgive me saying that, am apt to be overlong myself at times.
One more thing, it takes great courage to share emotions like yours, Sage.

[willweb]

I really like how you wove this together, the rose and the sunflower...what a cool way to view this and what a beautiful tribute to whoever it was that inspired this. This was wonderful.