Be It Ever So Prickly

Be it ever so prickly,
there's no place like home.
The birds in Arizona build their nests
in the arms of the catcus plants I avoid.
Jumping through spines, the cactus wren
builds football-like structures out of grass
(and maybe a little toilet paper).


I realized as I hiked through the giant Saguaro plants
(pronounced suh-WAH-row)
that I always saw them drawn in cartoons
with a bird hole in the middle,
based on the reality of all those woodpeckers
who build their nexts
in the bellies of the giant cacti.
Some of them have so many holes
they look like a condominium.
Disclaimer: I noticed that the Saguaro near roads and at the end of paths, like this one, have many more holes than the average, so I think the holes pictured in this little armless dude may be as much the result of human target practice as bird nesting. But you get the idea.