hand over your heart let’s go home

my cactus has a single flower for the first time four years.  its petals are both deep pink and delicate vanilla-white. they so contrast the utilitarian prickly green spines that it seems an impossible pair.  such beauty delayed for thousands of days is a form of mild torture not unlike waiting desperately for a glance from a crush. the sheer length of anticipation and brevity of the payoff reminded me of “all summer in a day” by ray bradbury.  when i first saw the petals unfold today my eyes welled.  they are dryer now but i still can’t look away.