Just by occasion I broke through
The nightmares eternal string
Out of the dark I step into
The dazzling brightness of the spring
And there you stand amidst the lawn
Dragging the hose along the ground
The magpies and the doves have flown
While jets are spreading all around
And then you look upon your shoulder
Our eyes meet and you say oh no
My dear, you don’t look much older
Since we last met sometime ago
See there’s a lot of work to do
I managed to replant the cacti
The other day, as if I knew
You would be here, just in time
I locked my memories and dreams
No one but me is bound to know
Where have I hidden our trees
The green of grass and white of snow
The roses, the forget-me-nots
The pansies and the olive tree
And every flower in your pots
You pictured for the memory
The cacti stars in white and pink
They wonder why they came around
I’m pretty sure they can think
Especially when the sun goes down
And we are there, inside the walls
The cacti whispers in the night
Watching our shadows in the hall
Move in the rectangle of light.
Cacti Hiku 47
Amidst torrid sun
Cacti sprout on rocky ground~
Nature`s sturdy strength.
. ~~.
.~~. -I t I-
-I i I- -I u I-
-I t I- -I o I-
-I c I- -I r I-
a-m-id-s-t t-o-r-r-i-d s-u-n -I a I- -I p I-
-I c I- -I s I-
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
o-n r-o-c-k-y g-r-o-u-n-d-s~
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
n ~a ~t~ u ~r ~e`s s ~t ~u ~r ~d ~y s ~t ~r ~e ~n ~g ~t ~h.
I went outside to pee
Underneath the cactus tree
But now I'm in the Ho Spittle
The cactus fell on me.
Oh the cactus tree the cactus tree
I went out to pee and it fell on me.
The cactus tree the cactus tree
It's such a mystery.
The sunny pleasures of cactus blooms,
brighten aged gold, and sunset rooms,
Like sunbirds flitting in purple plumes,
once dusk has known many perfumes.
Prickly cactus blooms, orange sun gift,
Also enjoyed during the dawn red shift.
Denizens of golden gritty sand, hottest,
creating dunes where the wind is swift.
The beauty of the scorching hot desert plains,
Is evident in turquoise skies and blooming cacti,
And at first unlikely glimpse, the memory remains,
Long after cherry red sun has left the evening sky.
Blooms of pink, red, orange and every other hue,
Provide lush charm on the sweltering desert sand,
And the occasional traveler receives a fervid view,
A sight that commands one to pause where they stand!
In the desert, succulents sun themselves; they’ve no need to work.
Full of drink they bask; playing Opossum for predatory eyes.
Any flower, wild or in a garden, must be jealous.
Fraught with fiercest spines,
Forbidding—yet flaunting such
Flamboyant flowers—
More than one cactus plant is called a cacti
Must follow that a bunch of fungus are called fungi
Sounds kind of Asian
If I may be so brazen
The only thing left that rhymes with cacti is magpie
You scrape a living in a harsh barren land,
never ceasing the hope,
that rain will finally come.
Covered with spines, you brace, and wait out every storm,
yet bearing fruit, just those few days of the year.
You bring color to the desert, ever reaching to the heavens.
Brushing off dismemberment,
a new shoot where a severed limb once sprouted.
Seemingly the giant of the wasteland,
but often, merely a small potted plant.
Knowing full well that the next day may very well be your last.
The scorch of the noonday sun blazes down,
drying, burning, razing to the ground,
what has clung desperately to life.
But still, the Cacti, endure...
Looking for the formal definition, structure, and history of this poetry form? Visit the Poetry Dictionary entry below. Then return to explore how PoetrySoup members bring the form to life through their own poems.