The Cactus Lover Ekphrastic Poem

 Today's poem for my accountability group, NaPoWriMo month, is an ekphrastic poem using the art piece below and the prompt for Day 28: 6 lines, 3 sentences with statement, question and then truth-conclusion. Also the title is to be obliquely related. I really enjoyed writing this poem and researching Spitzweg.

  The Cactus Lover; Der Kaktusliebhaber, C.1860 Art Print

Carl Spitzweg (1808–1885) was a renowned 19th-century German painter and poet, considered the leading artist of the Biedermeier era. Originally a pharmacist, he became a largely self-taught painter celebrated for humorous, detailed, and affectionate portrayals of small-town middle-class life and eccentric characters, often blending Romanticism with satire. 

From the Windowsill

 If I lean a little closer I will hear you 

Your admiration of my tender red flower

You ask, how such a tender blossom forms

On my thorny self? Gentler lines among my spines?

And so it is with your kind, Dear Master, 

Forbearing hearts within briary bodies.

joanconnor 04/29/2026