Perhaps my brain needs a break from the darkness it tends to generate when I write. 

Tomas and the Cactus

“Coolness is overrated,” said the cactus,
like its opinion mattered, and like it knew
anything about being cool—it was a cactus!
Cacti could be described as cool, but they
couldn’t weigh in on the subject or anything.

These were Tomas’ thoughts as he scanned
the desert horizon, desperate for a woman
and water, though not necessarily in that order,
but he was stuck with a know-it-all cactus,
and it didn’t look like women or water were

just going to drop out of the sky, so Tomas
fired up his imaginary dune buggy and drove
as far and fast as he could…but the cactus came
along, too, which Tomas should have predicted,
but he wasn’t the smartest guy in the first place.