Jason Horsler Poet Sonnet

Notes About The Poem

Written in the car as we drove through France, the personified image of the depressed, rain-sodden sunflowers as grieving war veterans is so strong and sweet in this. As soon as I saw those sad fields of wilted blooms I was reaching for a pen and a petrol receipt to scribble the opening lines.

This poem was first published in volume one of my poetry ('Beware The Cheshire Cat'). It is also included in the 2025 omnibus book containing all five of my previous poetry volumes.

SUNFLOWERS DOWN

We passed French fields littered with steaming rolled hay
somewhere near the city of Verdun. 
Here rain-weary sunflowers stood in ranks 
and wouldn't even raise their faces to the sun. 
Wilted green leaf shoulders on hunched old men, 
all staring down at the mud on their toes;
or perhaps they were in mourning for their comrades
who’d fallen between the shabby rows. 

Look up! Look up! The clouds are fleeing
and summer declares its victory. 
Sunflowers should not be so sad. 
Oh look up, little men, and smile for me. 
These fields have known too much grief of old. 
Lift up your faces and turn them gold.

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