"Saguaro"--verse by Paul Southworth Bliss

Saguaro By Paul Southworth Bliss

December 11, 1937. In the great forest of saguaro cactus near Tucson, Arizona, I was strangely sad. Some saguaro are 35 and 40 feet tall and two feet in diameter. The most venerable are 200 years old.-P. S. B.

Stout desert warden, Armed against the world, Product of 200 years Of sunshine and hot sand . . . In the soft loneliness Of the desert Stand ever Still.

I have known trees to dance, To leap, to sway, To sigh, to sob, To laugh or despair, Change with the seasons, Gain new life and hope.

Saguaro, Unmoving, Silent, Untouched by friend or foe . . . . You are Deathless--- Yet Never Quite Alive.