Best Saguaro Poems

Although flowers bloom it’s awkward to say that they are flowers
because they are not flowers, but thorns disguised as yellow pistils 
and stamens surrounded by the petals made of pieces of colorless
paper. Moreover, their fragrance bears no meaning at all because 
they bloom in the...

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Saguaro cacti rise up like mighty sentinels 
boldly claiming the high desert plains
tall and proud, their prickly arms
forewarn intruders to stop and beware.
 
A daunting presence, bold and majestic
toughness flows through their cacti veins
Saguaro endure long hours in the barren wilderness 
with roots that persevere...

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Sonora Saguaro

Creamy flowers bloom.
Distinctively beautiful,
Oh, that southwest side.

© Dane Ann Smith-Johnsen
March 11, 2008...

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In the shimmering heat waves under midsummer blazing sun,
for he doesn’t know the meaning of the abundance of waters 
the overflowing river,
quenched his thirst with boiling sand
while looking at the sky to find a tomorrow
in somewhere on the other side of passing cloud.

He was forgotten...

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Saguaro Cactus
Stick like shilouette in morn
Birds feed and nest there...

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Gunshot Saguaro 

Long spines.  Waxy skin.
Wounds within your flesh abide.
Tall.  Distinguished.  Dried.

© Dane Ann Smith-Johnsen
December 6, 2009...

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........Cactus
....Water Towers
Isolated desolates
Wrapped in spikes
Fluted aqua Greys
Or in military green
Reaching the skies
The desolate cacti 
The desert fingers 
Withholding blaze..
Desicating breeze..........
.Blistering freeze..................
Where not a blade....................
Nothin' germinate......................
Them root in dust.....................
Wasteland, gravel.....................
The fluted barrels......................
They shrink in dry......................
Bellow up in rains......................
.Spiky succulents......................
.Not inviting hugs........................M
..unlike tree stem........................A
...their soft pith.........................X
...so innocent..............................I
..alas...

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The ancient cactus that grows in barren lands
Alone and shaded by their own thorns
Take hundreds of years to mature
Hundreds of years to prepare
Hundreds of years until
They give life

A tiny bloom finally appears in thorny reaches
And blesses the skies with new colors
Colors that invite the flying...

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There once was a shutterbug named Louie
Whose dry humor was a trifle screwy.
To a saguaro he said
Hands up lest I shoot you dead.
A shot; a flash; kablooey went Louie.

Date: 07/01/2019
Sponsor: Tania Kitchin...

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A saguaro cactus… am I
at times with white flowers, red fruit
melding variety into my surroundings

Beautiful, poised and strong
bathing in radiant sunlight
forever reaching toward the sky

Shadowed by neighboring dunes
absorbing the fast setting sun
proudly standing on my patch of desert

A saguaro cactus... am I
housing & feeding those...

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at the foot of the mountains
in a valley that is green
in the shadow of saguaro
and arid desert terrain
you hug and kiss me goodbye
I know it's the very last time
quickly mount your horse
and off to the west you ride
no glances over your shoulder
as you pass the...

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WARNING: Saguaro

I wandered e'er so stiffly, speaking to loneliness,
Got dead to desire at the start, deaf to silence,
This remained an arduous journey of despair,
Beneath a broad unforgiving expensive sky,
Destitute, I went hither, on equal ground,
Dreamt damp beds per sensitive trudge,
Last marrow withered essence within,
Cracked, my...

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hasty journey south
tombstone circle k
wade through
wanna be cowboys
and rv queens
to check out counter
and zip
outta the parking lot
onto the open road 
only to be
cut off
by a paint truck
laying lines
really?
crawling 
down the highway 
slower than a snail
no way to get back home
now
slow motion
anesthesia fade
kicking in
paint truck procession
will...

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Green clinger on arid arroyo rock, 
Spring blooms of faded yellow you did drop.
Desert dry took a toll of leaf and branch
Leaving photosynthesis to your bark.
Life is tough, lizard kissed, so short and harsh.
Unlike upland cousins, you are blessed:
In your shelter rests a saguaro babe,
Whose...

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