Sunflower Disappointment

We watched the sunflower grow until 

early summer.  My two cousins and I 

had planted the seed in late spring after 

the last frost.  We planted near my cousins' 

back porch, so we could keep an eye 

on growth.  

We thought we had encountered a miracle 

when our sunflower reached nine feet in June, 

but that delusion faded fast when we learned 

the tallest sunflower on record achieved a

 height of thirty feet and one inch.  

We drooped pre-adolescent heads, defeated 

as Americans in Charleston during the revolution, 

but we continued to ride bikes over dirt roads 

made on two acres of property, stop long enough 

to eat a mouthful of wild cherries in the grove 

wild cherry trees, and plan to grow 

a record-breaking sunflower next year.  

Our goal was simple as a handful of seeds, 

exciting as building the wooden roller coaster 

two years ago from a Popular Mechanics blueprint.  

We were suntanned kids always looking 

for a new project, always grateful 

that our imagination never let us down.

---

R. Nikolas Macioci earned a PhD from The Ohio State University. Nik is the author of twenty-three books. He was twice nominated for a Pulitzer Prize, nominated five times for a Pushcart Prize, and twice for a Best of the Net award.