Sunflower ––– to all the lonely people in the world by Ruiting Zhao

A thick, green candy cane

Scorched by the sun

Sparks of pain

Flaking 

away 

       in

        cinders

Palisades

Splashed dazzling yellow

Encircling the heart

Walling it in

Muting. DEAFENING. Sizzles.

Dried tears

Dyed with the soot

Of burned-out dreams

Reluctantly sweet 

For a sea of greedy lips

I can see you

And me

And us

We sprout in every meadow

Identically-smothered 

By a more radiant name

And looking forward

To cloudy days