Sunflowers

One day  

you will return to the home  

that you spent your life running from.  

The land of haleeb w asal. 

And on that day  

you will find home in your mind.  

Your children 

lost beneath rubble 

will be there.  

Even their sandals have made an impression on marble floors – 

How can they be forgotten?  

On that day 

they will wake you at 6 am 

and show you the legion of sunflowers assembled on the street.  

You will remember buying them sunflower seeds  

when they were hungry. 

You will wonder about the seeds in their stomach 

that simmered in drops of saliva for years. 

Nourished in words, 

trapped within a plant pot that is a tongue 

until it tore through their skin 

turning their missile-ridden eyes to petals. 

You will wonder if they are being born 

or if they are being dead.  

On that day, 

you will talk of lineage – 

Not with your lips, but with your roots.  

You will wrap arms around stems and kiss yellow faces. 

Your children will smile 

and talk about  

the legion of sunflowers, 

the land of haleeb w asal, 

and about how quickly 

they 

like the time 

have passed away.