She found me at the nursery where I sold her the shrubs

she hired me to plant, & I looked forward to cash

so scarce for a 17-year old with a lovely, sexy new girl

& I borrowed dad’s station wagon, loaded the shrubs, shovel

fertilizer & set out for her house where she stood

awaiting me in her driveway wearing a tube-top & cut-off

denim shorts riding high up between her thighs as she bent

over placing shrubs where they needed to grow around her yard

& after I finished, never taking my eyes off her groin as I dug

holes &laid in the shrubs, she took me for a tour of her house

telling me her kids were at camp, her husband away for work & asked

if now wasn’t the time for me to get paid as she sat on her bed’s edge

& I quivered yes, holding out my hand for the twenty she’d promised

thinking her forty, maybe, so when you ask about regrets, that’s one.

Dan Giancola lives in Mastic LI. He’s the author of 9 poetry books, most recently Near Ghazals (Street Press, 2020), and he’s edited Speaking in an Empty Room: The Selected Letters of John Sanford (Tough Poets Press, 2020).