Cacti are more accessible than bamboo shoots:
So I decided on the spur
To head to Mexico.
Objectivize something within my budget for a change
(damn bursary).
Bell towers and pink-tinted churches, the ringers
Ringing down their foundations
And yet: I apply for a further grant
And MacArthur turns me down.
Perhaps I should think farther than Mexico.
Cacti can be purchased at corner stores
Pre-groomed, domesticated, the spikes
Not dangerous at all — only ornamental
Like the painted screen (imported from China)
That stands guard in my mother’s boudoir.
Painted sparrows, bamboo shoots,
And cacti, all familiar.