Cactus-2 Poem by Namita Rani Panda

A Cactus I'm in your lovely garden
waiting for attention
with a great expectation!

Though without fragrance
I'm full of grace
but left untouched,
isolated from the rest
as covered with sharp spines,
for self-protection,
may be hooked or straight,
will surely hurt.

But no one to peep inside,
so soft and full of life,
ever ready to greet
with wide soulful smiles
spreading blooms so bright and colourful
on its areoles
but never plucked
to be offered to God
or decorate the plait of a beloved.
The fate of a cactus flower
is to bloom and wither
with an unfulfilled desire.