Deja Vu at Paper Poetry

The Making of a Sunflower

An ekphrastic sonnet

image created in Canva by the writer using Wesley’s drawing of a sunflower (with his permission!)

The lines wobble in their imperfection
It’s part of what makes them cute and unique
Wesley’s hand is new to illustration
He does find it much easier to speak.

“How do I draw a sunflower, Mummy?
I want to make it look happy and real.”
“I’ll draw one right here so you can copy.
Now, pay attention,” she said. “That’s the deal.”

He proved to be a super-fast learner
Before long, he had drawn a big circle,
a long line for a stem, leaves like feathers
The hardest part was drawing the petals.

Colouring with fluoro-yellows and greens
The most fun was the black dots for the seeds!

© Carolyn Hastings 2022

The sunflower in the image above the sonnet was drawn by my 5-year-old grandson, Wesley. It was the subject of Paper Poetry’s Week 12 ekphrastic prompt and is now part of the Déjà vu at Paper Poetry event that is running until June 10. All in all, there’s 14 prompts to choose from — surely there’s something for everyone. 😊 🙏