Cactus Song Poem by Madathil Rajendran Nair

You look like a pantheon of aliens
In the dusky evening sun
At Sabino Canyon in Tucson
In holy communion
With the looming heavens

A battalion of saguaro cacti
Standing esoteric guard
At foothills and uphill
Eerie silhouettes
With hands raised
In ethereal silence
Marveling man's imagination

How much I wish I could ever remain
At these slopes after the sun has gone
To witness your silent song
To the northern constellations!

The melody that you absorb
From Mother Earth and store
In the sweet water you bear
In nectarine gallons
In your towering trunks
The song the humming bird
Finch, flicker or pecker
Taught you in silent nights
Holed up in your throbbing hearts!

Saguaros, my mystic friends
Pour out your song unabated
In silence to the Milky Way
May the earth the heavens embrace
An undying Presence we mortals sense