Volume 69, Number 1 · Fall 2019

For a Sunflower/Woman

i knew you first as the ghost sunflower.
yellow planted & forgot to water.
we leave zebra seeds; salt in the shower.
please, green hot love me; soil & altar.

yellow planted & forgot to water.
bucket, girl-garden, pour me june over.
oh green hot love me; soil me, falter,
a clover & clover & a clover.

bucket, girl-garden, pour me june over.
i love you solar-mouthed & corn-husk dry
a clover & clover & a clover.
you haunt me; orchid teeth & eye.

i love you solar-mouthed & corn-husk dry
we leave zebra seeds; salt in the shower.
i want you; orchid-beak-kiss & magpie.
i knew you first as the ghost sunflower.


Robin Gow (they/fae/it pronouns) is a trans poet and witch author from rural Pennsylvania. Fae is the author of several poetry books, an essay collection, YA, and middle-grade novels in verse, including A Million Quiet Revolutions (FSG Books for Young Readers, 2022).