oh what a merry dance there lives

d. ellis phelps

September 22, 2024

i love the way the sunflower leaves

its seeds still reaching for the sky

a few yellow blooms bob & sway 

in the summer breeze

—feed queen butterflies and honey bees

there is so much more in this demise

than can be seen with human eyes

with leaves now brown

one might think to yank

this lanky plant down

to wrest this unsightly lean

from over the green st. augustine

but now      the finch and wren have come

—tiny acrobats with wings

each seed pod a trapeze 

from which they swing

oh what a merry dance there lives

amidst this seeming demise

where ladybugs bees & butterflies feed

where in the spring     every dropping seed

—becomes the sun

d. ellis phelps’ work has appeared widely online and in print. She is the author of four poetry collections and one novel and the editor of Moon Shadow Sanctuary Press (MSSP) and of the digital journal fws:  international journal of literature & art where she publishes the work of others.