You do not have to strive to be perfect

A poem for Saturday

You do not have to strive to be perfect.
The sun is the sun is the sun.

The seed is exactly where it needs to be
Tiny, a miniscule shell
White with black markings
So modest, so unassuming.
I gently place it in the rich dark soil
The earthy smell filling my senses.
I cover it 
With reverence.
Someday it might become a sunflower,
But today it is perfect.

The tender sprout 
Is emerging. 
Spreading its stem, stretching and reaching 
Toward the sky.
Finding its way.
So fragile, so delicate, so unwavering.
I feel a holiness in its determination.
Someday it might become a sunflower
But today it is perfect.

The sunflower makes her appearance,
Proudly, gloriously.
Head held high.
Spreading her petals, golden light reflecting
Her grace like a halo. 
So tall, so majestic, so bright.
Someday she will bow to earth,
And kiss the dark soil once again
Bending, giving, transforming.
My heart aches with wonder
And appreciation.

Today she is perfect.

The seed is exactly where it needs to be.
You do not have to strive to be anything else.
The sun is the sun is the sun. 

Do you know about the Iowa Writers’ Collaborative? We are linking readers and writers directly.

Here we are, in alphabetical order.

Laura Belin: Iowa Politics with Laura Belin

Doug Burns: The Iowa Mercury

Dave Busiek: Dave Busiek on Media

Art Cullen: Art Cullen’s Notebook

Julie Gammack: Julie Gammack’s Iowa Potluck

Beth Hoffman: In the Dirt

Dana James: New Black Iowa 

Robert Leonard: Deep Midwest: Politics and Culture

Chuck Offenburger: Iowa Boy Chuck Offenburger

Mary Swander: Mary Swander’s Buggy Land

Ed Tibbetts: Along the Mississippi

Iowa Writers Collaborative: Iowa Writers Collaborative

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