Sunflower Anthem

For five years I’ve driven by your family’s old house, I count the sunflowers sprouting in the rutted driveway, They’re weeds according to my neighbor, the farmer He gave me a bike when I was little and I feed apples to his horses I’ve watched wooden fence fall apart, the red paint peel off the barn And as the trumpet vine over take the west side of the garage. I remember riding the school bus with you and your sister We played twenty questions even though we already knew the answers Then we would run around in your front lawn until dinner time In the summer, we would argue over who had the Biggest flowers and who could swim the fastest Even though I taught you how Today to the house is silent with the laughter from our early years Yesterday, I stopped to look at what is left The rusty basketball hoop behind the shed and the dent in the Siding from when I threw the football at your head The sand box that you turned into an herb garden I almost stumbled over the remains of the picnic table where We both took our first drink, my parents knew, yours didn’t I frowned at the falling trellis that you used to sneak out at sixteen. I can still see the tracks in the overgrown field behind the House, where we learned to drive No one has lived here for a nearly a decade I can still smell the charred wood that was never taken away I paused to straighten the “For Sale” sign as I left Your mom gave up on selling two years ago But I didn’t have the heart to take it down It’s a bittersweet ending to leave this place for the last time I’m packed and leaving on Saturday. The twinkling of headlights out on the highway Reminds me of the night of the fire All the sirens and the hot heavy rain I recall someone holding me back, no one would tell me why I know I still blame your father But we will never know what really happened that night I still wear the medallion you gave me that day, our last summer at home I had plans to move to the East Coast after college But I stayed local, until now; I just couldn’t sever the ties From the childhood I had, that we had together But life happens and it’s time to move on I can’t help but cry as I drive down the dusty gravel road one last time I’ll miss this place as much as I miss you Take care, my friend, wherever you are.