One Night Stand

One Night Stand


Green and gangly, growing in its huge pot

my cactus friend is living on the front porch,

battle-scarred from being pushed through doors,

yet still reaching up, long branches following the sun.


She’s a family member, this southern specimen.

We’ve shared a home for many years.

In winter she sits stolidly by the south window

until warming temperatures invite her back outside.


And now, mid-summer, her big night approaches.

She has already pushed out 5 pendulous buds

and at dusk, some night soon, they will begin to open.

Huge, intricate, spectacular blooms, and by morning they’ll be gone.


I wonder what it’s like for this long-lived friend

living, growing, waiting for 364 days a year

and then on one single night under the moon’s glow

she spends her entire self on one miraculous performance. 

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