Cactus

Published in the Viable imprint of Zoetic Press.

somewhere in the mojave desert

it seemed like days since the motel with
the greyhaired man and months

since i had seen my father
and i never used to think before i acted and i still haven’t
learned but somewhere in the mojave desert i

stroked the disc-like face of a small green cactus and
its red fibres stung my palms like the anxiety puncturing

my temples this summer and
my mother tweezed away as many of the swaying threads

as anyone could
brushed away my thick tears and still

seventeen years later it is 2am and i can’t sleep again
i tiptoe downstairs she is at the desk her face haloed by

the same moonglow of the computer she had been writing
on the edge of the freeway in every state she was

the angel of route 66
the words were sparked into life by her fingernails
when i grow older i will borrow her shoes and her electricity

she is softer now her smile less frequent but more genuine
and finally i understand why but still

seventeen years later it is 2am and when i offer my upturned palms
she wordlessly plucks away the pain

Zoetic Press is a publisher of short-form fiction. You can see the latest issues of their quarterly journal, NonBinary Review, here.