Sunflowers and Roses

You are but a sunflower, my dear
And I am only a rose
You tower, big and bright, among all the other flowers
And me, low to the ground, covered in unpleasant thistles

You shine so brightly
you stand so tall that I have no choice but to look up to you
It amazes me how a plant can be so perfect
But you tell me
“No, my love, no
I am not without flaws my dear
You see, I am sensitive
my brightness and beauty attract the nastiest of parasites and the deadliest of diseases
They want to destroy the beauty I am blessed with”

But I could care less
Even your flaws looked beautiful to me
How I wish you could see yourself the way I do
Perfect, flawless
The gorgeous creation that you are
Little did I know you did
You were simply trying to show me we all have our perfect imperfections

And yet you’re the only one whose beauty doesn’t plague me with comparison
You’re the only one whose perfection isn’t what makes me feel imperfect
Because you spread your beauty
like petals on a flower
Your love and confidence are contagious
It affects everyone it touches
like pollen in the Spring

How is it that we were planted in the same garden
and yet grow so differently?
All I see are the days of scorching sun and storms
Where you thank the sun for its light
and the storms for their rain
you see how they help you grow
where all I see is one endeavor after another to blow me down
to drown me

Never will I understand why you see so much beauty in me
with my color so undesirable
my thorns so unlovable
And yet, you make me feel like the prettiest flower in the garden
I don’t know what I would do without you

No amount of warning could’ve prepared me for your departure
But you are a seasonal flower
And the winter came, bitter and cold
to take your presence away

You told me the happiness you brought me was only temporary
It filled me with sorrow
But regardless of my efforts, I could not hold onto you
You slipped away like soil between my fingers

And I sat there, rooted in the same place as I had always been
Except this time, without you
But being at your lowest
Constantly looking down
Makes you take notice of the ground
the space where you once stood
We both grew from the same soil
except you chose to grow
and I chose to wilt

The only thing that separated me and you was the belief of significance
The sense of purpose

I wondered why you couldn’t see yourself the way I did
why you voiced to me your faults where I thought there were none
It never occurred that you might view me the same way

All I had to do was see me the way you did
love me the way you had
think about and view my circumstances you way you do

It didn’t happen overnight
nor did it in the span of a season
But by the time you returned
I stood as tall as you did
We shone equally as brightly
As we stood side by side in that garden
grown from the same soil
And is there anything more beautiful than a sunflower and a rose?