Poem for Friday and Botanic Garden Cacti

To the Saguaro Cactus Tree in the Desert Rain
By James Wright

I had no idea the elf owl
Crept into you in the secret
Of night.

I have torn myself out of many bitter places
In America, that seemed

Tall and green-rooted in mid-noon.
I wish I were the spare shadow
Of the roadrunner, I wish I were
The honest lover of the diamondback
And the tear the tarantula weeps.
I had no idea you were so tall
And blond in moonlight.
I got thirsty in the factories,
And I hated the brutal dry suns there,
So I quit.

You were the shadow
Of a hallway
In me.

I have never gone through that door,
But the elf owl’s face
Is inside me.

Saguaro,
You are not one of the gods.
Your green arms lower and gather me.
I am an elf owl’s shadow, a secret
Member of your family.

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It has been a shitty day. A friend died, and I heard about two other deaths involving people much too young, both friends of friends. Plus it was the 30th anniversary of the Challenger accident and I should not have watched news related to that. I'm trying to remember what happened besides -- I started working on a Voyager review, I went to get cat litter and stopped to get some comfort food for the family of the friend who died, I watched The 100 and Elementary. Oh, and we saw a bunny out in the snow, and I won tickets to an advance screening of Eddie the Eagle with Hugh Jackman and Taron Egerton, both of which must be labeled bright spots. Cacti at the US Botanic Garden: