My house
is an IKEA garden.
Polyester palms
in doorways.
Synthetic succulents
lining windowsills
like guards.
In the apartment we shared,
there were natural flowers.
Birthday Tulips
that whispered promise.
Let-it-go lilies that latched
onto flimsy heartstrings.
Life’s easier now,
I tell myself,
with this artificialness of mine.
Better,
with this plastic
that keeps its promise
to never wilt.
Chris Kads
Chris Kads (she/her) is a queer, Arizonan writer who enjoys creating coming-of-age works with feminist and LGBTQ+ themes. When she is not writing, Chris loves hosting the poetry challenge "Gut Punch Prompts" on her instagram @chris_kads and playing board games with her loved ones. Her poem "Missing the Tide" was runner-up in the 63rd Glendon and Kathryn Swarthout Awards for Undergraduate Poetry, and she has had other works featured in Blood+Honey Literary Magazine, SHINE International Poetry Series, Pillow Talk Magazine, Canyon Voices Literary Magazine, and the anthology If You Ever: Poems Inspired by Kim Addonizio.