Holly Says Sobriety Is Paying Attention
Orange tabby in the foxglove.
Four beets in a bag.
The poppy’s blocky skeleton.
A net full of mulberries,
sweetest
at the point
they let go.
Untie
the soft knots
of the crochet.
Begin again.
Look,
there’s a lily.
Look,
there’s another one.
Copyright © 2023 by Susan Landers. Originally published in Poem-a-Day on June 12, 2023, by the Academy of American Poets.
“I wrote this poem about nine months after I stopped drinking alcohol, reveling in the clarity that doing so provides. In a place like the United States, where alcohol is ubiquitous, not drinking is often characterized as some kind of sacrifice, but in reality, it’s the opposite. Sobriety is a gift. It creates space for all the pleasures that come from attending to oneself and the world.”
—Susan Landers
Susan Landers
Susan Landers is the author of three books of poetry, most recently Franklinstein (Roof Books, 2016).