Post 79 - Cactus (poem)

CACTUS

You see me
in the desert, happy
to be alone.

You forget me
for a time and discover
I still thrive.

But I need
water, I need
touch, I need
connection.

Ignore me
and one day you will find
a brown, shrivelled husk
with no purpose
left but to casually
hurt you.

Post 78 - Love (poem)

LOVE

It's not a shield,
it's a boat.
Weathered,

beaten,
as two captains try
to keep it afloat
in black, angry seas.

Together they must
commit lest it sink,
capsize,
dash to splinters
upon rocks.

If either is tempted
into the sea
by merfolk,
or thirst,
Sirens
or the promise of cool currents
they will discover

the lie that lives
beneath the waves.
Regret
has no power to right
an abandoned ship.

And so two captains work
together to survive
a world that wants their boat to fail.