sunflower, image by Ray Shrewsberry, on Pixabay
Sunflower Princess
Once lived a Sunflower Princess
of fair temperament and form
It was a privilege to know her—
an angel she was born
A daughter on a pedestal,
the family’s eldest child
Adored was she by everyone,
…but with us just a while
Her twenty-three years blossomed
like sunflowers in a field,
Proud and strong and beautiful—
her spirit’s light revealed
She shared her gentle, loving ways
with each one in her life
Her moving song made people feel
less burdened by their strife
She had a smile that made one think
from troubles they were free
Though suffering declining health,
self-pity there’d not be…
When she learned her days were numbered,
to heartfelt prayer she took
Hoping to see Heaven,
she searched the holy book
She marked her favorite passages,
and shared with me each one—
Her spiritual pilgrimage,
always turning toward the sun
When I whispered she was ever blessed
with nature’s perfect grace
She looked at me with pause,
a smile askew upon her face
I told her that the world was made
more peaceful by her light—
And how, just by her being,
all others’ hopes shined bright
Too soon a sunset shadowed
her resplendent golden glow
Her soulful song was silenced—
it was time to let her go
As her twilight hours flickered,
family near her all the while—
From her eye, she let a tear drop,
on her lips, she set a smile
*
On High
Like ribbons on a kite,
I am taken to the sky
Surrendering to flight,
as curls of clouds drift by
Upon uplifting winds,
I am traveling higher still
Far from a life that’s been,
and not against my will
No worries weigh me down
in obsessive, doleful thought
By no burdens am I bound,
no hopeless feelings wrought
Soft the air, and lighter,
boundless skies cerulean blue
As sun shines even brighter,
old mem’ries fade from view
Beyond its mortal being,
my timeless spirit climbs
By revealing light I’m seeing,
as if for the first time
Ethereality is blissful,
my spirit-heart beats free
Hereafter ever peaceful—
On high, eternally
A few years ago, Susan Mayer Brumel retired
from a thirty-four-year career in hospice counseling.
Her poetry is influenced by her patients’ journeys,
the beauty of nature, and the human condition.
She enjoys getting lost in the woods, floral design,
music, and jumping in puddles with her grandchildren. She lives near the Jersey Shore with her husband
and their Bernese Mountain Dog, Dottie.
July 2024 issue
Such beautiful language and touching feelings expressed in these poems. The Sunflower Princess "always turning toward the sun."