I’ll be Ivy, I’ll be Sunflowers

They’re racing out from inside me
Extensions of my hidden things 
Bursting from seed you plant
Sprawling ivy clinging to stone
Sunflowers turning to face the sun 

Give me your strong walls to wrap around
My ivy will guard you, dense
Rich with nectar to sate you
Cooling your rest in the hot summers
Drying your air in the damp winters
Giving freely all the protection I can offer
To preserve you
Treasured you

Embrace my sunflowers below
With the caring warmth of your noonday sun
I will do my best to be plainly beautiful
Smiling, bright
All the good things
In hopes of deserving
The privilege to witness
All the good you have 

Give me leave to thrive in your shadows
I will grow tall there
Overjoyed to be near
You need only to open your window
To find me waiting, listening
Speak to me, answer my evening whispers
So I may guard your secrets in the night 

I’ll fall quiet with the sunsets
Turning away, shy, in the fields at your feet
Faded, softened
But going nowhere
Waiting for you here, hopeful
Eager for the morning
So I may look up to see you again 

I’ll be tapestries to cover you
Holding sacred your discretion 

I’ll be fields to hold your secrets
Guarding your precious memories

To be all this
To be ivy, to be sunflowers
In servitude until your last sunset
I’ll be waiting 

December 18, 2024