Prickly Pear Hedge Poem by Gert Strydom

How long it did seem
as if day after day you were pining away,
vainly wanted to reach maturity
as if ravaged by a hidden pain,

were waiting on a sign or maybe a determined time
or something to happen in nature,
yet there were greater leaves throughout
and now you are in your prime.

For many years you do grow
as a hedge in the garden
with nailed leaves
and suddenly you bear fruit up to your top

and your are everywhere covered with them and I am astonished
from the harvest that did come with your growth.