But, in Florida, day one:
folks leaving the last party,
returning home to wash
sand from their sun-
diminished heads.
They are like the legend
of soldiers still fighting
World War II from isolation
of their island jungle:
don’t realize they’ve lost,
carried defeat like shame
too long. On the news,
I hear that Florida’s governor
exempted religious services
from the prohibition
on public gatherings.
Goddamn it, Florida,
why do you always
fuck things up
like that one kid in class
who forgets to bring a pencil
to the most important test
of his young life?
My dad will go,
despite his age, diabetes,
recent cancer treatment.
He was as stubborn as Florida
long before he moved there.
Several states away,
I’m hunched over a notebook,
which has been my church,
attempting to figure out
how to say I won’t
see my father alive again.
Ace Boggess is author of seven books of poetry, most recently My Pandemic / Gratitude List (Mōtus Audāx Press, 2025) and Escape Envy (Brick Road Poetry Press, 2021). His writing has appeared in Indiana Review, Michigan Quarterly Review, Hanging Loose, and other journals. An ex-con, he lives in Charleston, West Virginia, where he writes, watches Criterion films, and tries to stay out of trouble. His forthcoming books include the poetry collection, Tell Us How to Live, from Fernwood Press and his first short-story collection, Always One Mistake, from Running Wild Press.
To purchase My Pandemic / Gratitude List Poems. Please use the link below.
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