Song Riddle: Night-Blooming Saguaro
       

I love the stone-strewn bajadas.
I thrive in the sling of a mesa sun

though my flowers wake at night
pollinated by long-nosed bats.

If my flowers open at sunrise,
let doves and cactus bees come.

My skin is smooth as a candle
but don't touch my spines.

I store enough water to quench
the thirst of your soldaderas

and rarely dredge myself dry
en la estacion seca.

If I could speak, I would teach
you to survive without kin.

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Copyright © 2012 Karen An-Hwei Lee All rights reserved
from Crazyhorse
Reprinted by Verse Daily® with permission