Poem: Friends

The tall cactus

that sits in my window

has dropped its pink blossoms

onto the smaller cactus

sitting beside it,

giving rich color

to a plant that never blooms.

I reach to discard

the fallen petals,

but then decide not to.

Charity should be respected

in any sphere.

Let the barren plant

flower for a day or two.

All too soon its world

will turn again to absence.

But today,

thanks to its neighbor,

it blooms.

Robert Hamblin is an emeritus professor of English at Southeast Missouri State University, where he taught for 50 years and served as the founding director of the school's Center for Faulkner Studies. He is the author or editor of nearly 60 books, including poetry, fiction, literary criticism, biographies and memoirs.

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