My Father’s Poems: May 15, 2022

Daily Diary, Day 623:

It’s been quite hot, in mid 80s, the last few days. A nice break from the usual “gray May,” but not so good for helping us avoid a bad fire season. The only plants that seem to be happy are the few cacti scattered throughout the neighborhood. Enjoy these photos, and one of my father’s poems.

AMBUSH

Patient cactus,
dryly grown in
years of sun and rock,
lonely refuge of
peccary, rattler and
armadillo.

Softly growing deadly
spikes
thru
searing years.
Wind blown, silent,
waiting.

Erect intruder
walking small beneath
the tall Saguaro,
by the pincushion, round
the gangling Ocotillo.

Then,
persistence
of a desert eon
realized, caught
by the scarring,
tearing,
lingering jagging grip
of Cholla.

––Joseph Locke