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Writer's picturegabrielle tola

A (Late) Love Declaration to Cypress Gardens Flower Shop:


hidden amongst bushes and vines

the tiny yellow building adorned in green

almost seemed to blend in too well with nature


con vitrinas de cristal from ceiling to ground

bouquets of roses, baby’s breath, violets

in every shade your heart could handle


kooky in the way all things from Miami were

satin and silk ribbons surrounded by balloons

teddy bears and stuffed animals as soft as the afternoon sun


when I was a kid, the sight of this flower shop meant dread,

nearing my doctor’s office on 107th

the mere sight tasted of grape-flavored cough syrup


after college it became a marker of home

my statue of liberty in Miami

billboards reading:


“roses are red

violets are blue

we’ve been here

longer than you”


a north star

leading me home

survivor of Andrew and other storms


how foolish to think

that we would drown

when pure love is waterproof.




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