Tales From the Abandoned Greenhouse, by Kay "Kro" Kroger

Poetry, chapbook, 24 pages, from Bottlecap Features.

Tales From the Abandoned Greenhouse is a walk down an overgrown garden path. In the middle of a sprawling forsythia bush, you will find the decayed remains of lost loves. Tucked into the folds of a treestump, you will encounter a brother, or a mother. You may even encounter that rare animal called hope.

Reading these poems will take you through a neglected landscape that is nevertheless captivating as it slowly becomes something unrecognizable. But who among us has not allowed ourselves, at times, to become something unrecognizable? So come to the place where the tree has grown so tall that it has shattered through the glass roof. You will find that the sun is shining in. And the orioles are singing.

Kay “Kro” Kroger (@kroetry) is a full-time on-demand typewriter poet. They teach creative (type)writing classes and are poet-in-residence at the WNDR Museum. They have a linguistics MA (2016) and are an MFA student (2025). Their interactive poetry/essay/activity collection, Prayer Wheel, was self-published in 2022 with grant support from the Illinois Arts Council. Their work has appeared in Outpatient Press, The Prairie Light Review, and Crook & Folly.