Addendum Oversightus

     The following poem, "Helianthus Annus," was misprinted in PageBoy I 09. Please read it in its entirety below. Our apologies to its author, Joe Balay.

Helianthus Annus


Do you see that sunflower
Looking in the bedroom window?
It stares in my room all day.
I feel uncomfortable undressing,
Drinking a glass of water,
My god, my husband
Has seen less of me.


Do you see that sunflower?
It has been looking in
As long as I can remember.
Although I cannot remember
When it first looked in,
Certainly before I lived here,
Before August, and the children,
Before the advent of other flowers.


Do you see that sunflower at the window?
In the summer it was as yellow as god.
In the winter it was numb as a limb.
I asked someone to prune it,
And it grew taller.


When nobody is home
It has seen the cracks open in the wall,
The carpet grow like grass,
It has seen the light coruscate
On braziers,
Fevers,
And lovemaking,
It has seen one perfect ghost appear
And then, rethinking, disappear.


Do you see that sunflower,
Planted outside my window,
Stuck in the ground like a flag,
Like a first attempt
To take stock of this world,
This room,
The man and woman who live here,
Light separating from shadow,
As if it could,
As if it were meant to?