Christine Redman-Waldeyer
Sunflower
It is not how the yellow mane
around his face
cupped his seeds
but rather how I had to wait
before I could remove them,
wait until he was ripe
and then rub them out -
I laid his heavy head down,
hit him over and over
with a stick.
This lion,
this bad boy in the fields
who faces East,
unwinds at night
is silent,
so silent among his men.
Bio
Christine Redman-Waldeyer holds a BA in English from Georgian Court University, a MA from Monmouth University, and a Doctorate of Letters from Drew University. She teaches literature, writing, and journalism at Passaic County Community College and is the Coordinator of the Journalism Option Program. She has published two books of poetry with Muse-Pie Press and is published widely in literary journals. She has done free-lance writing for daily and community newspapers and independently published a children's book, Around the World with Rosalie.