Clytie loved the sun god, Helios.
Helios had other plans,
renounced her for another.
So she sat for days on frigid ground
taking no food or drink,
survived on tears and pearls of water
while she pondered.
Did not pine away as some thought,
instead indulged her bond with nature,
willed her limbs to root in the ground.
Wished her face into a flower
turning on its stem to face the sun.
Solar brute Helios, rose and set,
continued his treks across the sky,
not escaping Sunflower’s accusing gaze
or her vanilla fragrance.
This article appears in Jan 26 – Feb 2, 2017.