Gumby was a favorite toy that could be pulled, punched, stretched and twisted.
I couldn't help but think of this icon as we walked the trails of Saguaro National Park. These cactuses seem to take on different personalities with a variety of shapes.
Saguaro National Park is part of the Tucson area. The Saguaro can live more than 200 years attaining heights of 40-60 feet high. It grows only in southern Arizona, in California along the Colorado River and in northern Mexico state of Sonora. Check out the impressive size of this Saguaro found in the back of the Ritz Carlton Hotel.
CACTUS
author unknown
Thorns are my language.
I announce my existence
with a bleeding touch.
Once these thorns were flowers.
I loathe lovers who betray.
Poets have abandoned the deserts
to go back to the gardens.
Only camels remain here, and merchants,
who trample my blooms to dust.
One thorn for each rare drop of water.
I don’t tempt butterflies,
no bird sings my praise.
I don’t yield to droughts.
I create another beauty
beyond the moonlight,
this side of dreams,
a sharp, piercing,
parallel language.
I announce my existence
with a bleeding touch.
Once these thorns were flowers.
I loathe lovers who betray.
Poets have abandoned the deserts
to go back to the gardens.
Only camels remain here, and merchants,
who trample my blooms to dust.
One thorn for each rare drop of water.
I don’t tempt butterflies,
no bird sings my praise.
I don’t yield to droughts.
I create another beauty
beyond the moonlight,
this side of dreams,
a sharp, piercing,
parallel language.
Every time I see Gumby, I think of my youngest brother, whom I remember sitting in his high chair playing with his Gumby.
ReplyDeleteNow I'll never think of Gumby without thinking of those cactus.