Gardening at Night

Alex Stolis

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​My sponsor says: get a plant 
your first year sober; 
no relationships.

At Home Depot I pile a cart— 
shredded mulch, orange-stickered 
shovels, rake. Forget gloves. 

Your mom rolled her eyes, made 
gallons of lemonade. I chain-smoked, 
dug tight rows and misted rainbows;

scalped the lawn between jobs, 
sleepwalk watered—hose
swaying in time with crickets.

Next spring was bone dry
then biblical deluge, then you:
toddling barefoot behind me 

through fresh-cut grass, babbling
to dandelions— 
too pretty, too pretty. 

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Alex Stolis has had poems published in numerous journals. His chapbook, Postcards from the Knife-Thrower's Wife, was released by Louisiana Literature Press in 2024, RIP Winston Smith from Alien Buddha Press 2024, and The Hum of Geometry; The Music of Spheres, 2024 by Bottlecap Press. He lives in Hudson Valley New York with his partner, poet Catherine Arra. ​

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