could someone interpret this poem entitled "Cactus"?

Question

excuse the cactus
thirsting on the sill
excuse its quills
stuck out:
they're only an attempt
at self-defense.
see how it bleeds
to fossils the old sand
itself looking to be such
a fussy fossil.
not quite futile.
it should require
some sort of guile
some genius
to subsist on sun
some lake sand
(have both for free!)
and come out looking
freshly green,
(juicy even)
as if in spite of
as if in fun.

Answer 1

before i say anything else. i think that this is a really good poem if you wrote it.

here we go:

"excuse the cactus, thirsty on the sill, excuse it's quills, stuck out..."
i would say that that you want to fit in but
you don't really know how to open up.

"they're only an attempt at self-defense"
you have been hurt before and don't
want to go through it again.

"see how it bleeds, to fossils the old sand, itself looking to be such, a fussy fossil"
sometimes you don't know how to deal with yourself. you just feel like your
floating away. you just want to give up, and stop swimming against the current.

"not quite futile, it should require, some sort of guile, some genius, to subsist on sun.."
you still have a chance, but you think that you'll have to do something bad to get what you want..that you'll have to hurt someone.

"some lake sand, have both for free, and come out looking freshly green, as if in spite of, as if in fun"
sometimes you feel perfect, exactly how you want to be, but you know at some point it will be gone.

Answer 2

The poem is far from perfect but I liked it. It is simple. It doesn't struggle to be ambiguous but it is. The ambiguity is a large part of what makes it so appealing...so that we readers can get the poem fairly easily at the surface level but also enjoy the possibilities of how we can relate the imagery to our every day experiences.

From a technical point of view, although I could argue with some of your word choices, there were just a few things that stuck out as "not belonging" in your poem. First, if you want to hold true to the concept of the cactus as a cactus, it is likely not "thirsting" on the sill. Like a camel, one of the qualities of the cactus is how long it can go without water. Second, the line "have both for free!" could probably be taken out and not be missed. Finally, the ending was a slight letdown for me. While I get the playfulness of your overall expression, and that you aren't taking your subject too too seriously, this ending felt, to me, as if you ran out of creative juice right at the end. It's too bad, too, because your observation about how it "come out looking freshly green (juicy even)" was such a nice full circle to the poem.

I liked it! You asked for an interpretation, which you have already received with other answerers, so I thought I would give you a little something else in a critique. Hope it's helpful.

Answer 3

Well, as in many good poems, this one has several layers. The first layer is pretty much what you see...it could almost be called "ode to a cactus on the window sill". The cactus is seen as possessing "pragmatic bravery" in that it survives not "because" of what it has, but "in spite of" what it doesn't have...and in doing so, "in fun of" what it doesn't have. It's the rabbit sitting in the briar patch laughing at the one who put him there...it's where he was born to be...and such is the case with the cactus...who appears as a fossil, yet is actually a "succulant" or "juicy" thing...green in spite of not possessing all the things that should be required to be green.

On another level, the cactus is anyone who is of a similar disposition or in a similar situation. They have thorns for self protection, but are perceived as being somehow threatening or distant. They thrive on adversity and laugh at those who wonder how they do it. They are born to it, it is "who" and "what" they are. The Eskimo who laughs at the idea that he should move to a warmer climate, or the Indian in the Amazon who is told he should move to where they have electricity and running water (he looks out at the Amazon and just laughs at all the water "running by").

You could go on and on about what it might mean...or you could just enjoy what it brings to "your" mind...which is what poetry is meant to do...to communicate to "you" with "your" experiences and "your" perceptions. What others make of any poem is only valid if you see it to.

Answer 4

Its a cactus, we may be want it to be more than it is but in its grand simplicity its perfect. It does not wish to be more or less than what it is just a cactus.