  The ability of quantum walks to evolve in a superposition of distinct quantum
states has been used as a resource in quantum communication protocols. Under
certain settings, the $k$-cycle discrete-time quantum walks\,(DTQW) are known
to recur to its initial state after every $t_r$ steps. We first present a
scheme to optically realize any $k$-cycle DTQW using $J$-plate, orbital angular
momentum\,(OAM) sorters, optical switch, and optical delay line. This entangles
the polarization and OAM degrees of freedom\,(DoF) of a single photon. Making
use of this recurrence phenomena of $k$-cycle DTQW and the entanglement
generated during the evolution, we present a new quantum direct communication
protocol. The recurrence and entanglement in $k$-cycle walk are effectively
used to retrieve and secure the information, respectively, in the proposed
protocol. We investigate the security of the protocol against intercept and
resend attack. We also quantify the effect of amplitude damping and
depolarizing noises on recurrence and mutual information between polarization
and OAM DoF of a single photon.
