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Christopher Lloyd

active adaptation

​you are still asleep so I down
coffee and dry toast alone,
morning breath like car fumes
 
I repot the ferns and palms
to give them space to shift
and unfurl, though I always
 
worry I am either over or
under-watering them, too
much care or too little, what
 
is the good enough plant
parent? how have I kept
them alive for so long
 
when your predecessor
said all I did was kill things?
but with you here it’s like
 
I tend your leaves not
theirs, ever watchful of
the soil, stick a finger
 
in to the second knuckle
as you instruct me to do,
check the roots aren’t
 
drowned / dry / heavy
with fungus gnats, they
flourish in the damp
 
and bite you at night, it’s
a balancing act for sure,
this foliage balms the lounge
 
but trips my gut, I hear
you stir so I curl soil from
under my fingernails and
 
bring you a warm mug
in my stained hands

Biography

Picture
Christopher Lloyd (he/him) is a writer and academic based in the UK. He is the author of the micro-chap PUT MY HEART DOWN (Ghost City Press), as well as stories, poems, and essays published in Fruit Journal, Queerlings, Homology Lit, FEED, Roi Fainéant, and elsewhere. Find him on Twitter: @clloyd9, IG: @chrisllloyd9, and on his website: christopherianlloyd.wordpress.com
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ISSN 2639-426X
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  • Home
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  • Issues
    • Issue 50
    • Issue 49
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    • Issue 47
    • Issue 46
    • Issue 45
    • Issue 44
    • Issue 43
    • Issue 42
    • Issue 41
    • Issue 40
    • Issue 39
    • Issue 38
    • Issue 37
    • Issue 36
    • Issue 35
    • Issue 34
    • Issue 33
    • Issue 32
    • Issue 31
    • Issue 30
    • Issue 29
    • Issue 28
    • Issue 27
    • Issue 26
    • Issue 25
    • Issue 24
    • Issue 23
    • Issue 22
    • Issue 21
    • Issue 20
    • Issue 19
    • Issue 18
    • Serenity
    • Issue 17
    • The Audio Room
    • Issue 16
    • Issue 15
    • Issue 14
    • Play It Again
    • Issue 13
    • Issue 12
    • Issue 11
    • Issue 10
    • Issue 9
    • Issue 8
    • Issue 7
    • Issue 6
    • Hand to Mouth
    • Issue 5
    • Issue 4
    • Issue 3
    • Issue 2
    • Issue 1
  • Submissions