Flowers Need the Sun

Daylength, or photoperiod, is perceived as a seasonal signal for the control of flowering of many plants. The measurement of daylength is thought to be mediated through the interaction of phototransduction pathways with a circadian rhythm, so that flowering is induced...
~Laura C. Roden~

Your guiding shine—eclipsed by the shade of night—
is blinding dark, and I know not which way
to face my growing petals. Every night,
I fear you won't return to me the way
I need—the way that, as you crest over
the eastern range, ensnares my life away
from chilling frost and fear that freezes over
my wilting leaves. Amid the darkest night,
crest! Rise and guide away the charcoal night.

The human plucks us for love every day,
and I was told to die a tool for love.
But I'm no symbol. I feel you, the day,
the sun, as brightly as the human loves.
I may not beat with blood. I may not pulse
with cardiac muscle, but I can still love
because my heart exists for you: a pulse,
a tempo set to dawn and dusk, night and day.
You cross the sky in rhythm with my day.


Works Cited:
Roden, Laura C. et al. "Floral Responses to Photoperiod Are Correlated with the Timing of Rhythmic Expression Relative to Dawn and Dusk in Arabidopsis." Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America 99.20 (2002): 13313-13318.