Heliophilia

Desire to stay in the sun / love of sunlight

Don’t call it an affliction —
call it affection. I’d stay under
the sun all day, never hiding
under a copse of trees if I knew
I wouldn’t burn, but isn’t it
more accurate that I burn
for the sun? To be pulled to the light
is nothing to be ashamed of: look

at flowers, butterflies, seals lounging
on a rock. Rhubarb sings in dark gardens
but truth be told it sounds more like
a wet cracking and popping. I think

it secretly counts the hours till it can turn
towards the sun again. For me, the sun
has always been easy to love, as easy
as it is to love whatever small light

bees bestow on fallen leaves—easy
to love the light they give just before
they crawl into a honey-hungry sleep,
just before the first fall of snow.