After and Sometimes . a poem from Stonewalls' Legacy Anthology

art: Ashley deLeon Nicole*

After and Sometimes

Relive those parties where every bottle was uncorked and

passed around and everyone smoked everything, double-

checked each auto’s glove box for at least a Sherman or 

a roach. And you left with exactly the wrong woman who 

was exactly the right one, if only for less than twelve hours. 

And not everyone was anything, not white, employed,

focused. And all had self-righteous halos of wild hair 

imperfect as a precisely imprecise stitch in a Persian rug.

You had fun. We all did. It had become more possible.

Sarah Sarai. Stonewalls Legacy: A Poetry Anthology. Hidden Gems Press., Ed. Rusty Rose & Marc Rosen. 2019.

*Ashley DeLeon Nicole https://www.thespruce.com/free-birthday-party-games-1356524

Relive those parties where every bottle was uncorked... "After and Sometimes" #poem

After and Sometimes

Relive those parties where every bottle was uncorked and

passed around and everyone smoked everything, double-

checked each auto’s glove box for at least a Sherman or 

a roach. And you left with exactly the wrong woman who 

was exactly the right one, if only for less than twelve hours. 

And not everyone was anything, not white, employed,

focused. And all had self-righteous halos of wild hair 

imperfect as a precisely imprecise stitch in a Persian rug.

You had fun. We all did. It had become more possible.

Sarah Sarai. Stonewalls' Legacy: A Poetry Anthology. Hidden Gems Press., Ed. Rusty Rose & Marc Rosen. 2019.

photo. Sarah Sarai. Madison Square Park.

Peril #52 of Having a Mother #poem #Stonewall #mothers #sex

Peril #52 of Having a Mother

Alois talked up

fastidious habits he
observed while engaged
in love's excitations.
Bus drivers on Haight
were clued in, shop clerks,
everyone in a radius knew
his pride of ownership.

I wish Mom talked sex
as much as he did.
I know lots about travels of the spirit.
I'm sort of mental.

May I take off my clothes.

That’s a prayer.

May I take off my clothes,

roll about and know the cloud of unknowing.

Sweetie, it wants to be known, don’t you think?

Sarah Sarai. Stonewalls' Legacy: A Poetry Anthology. Hidden Gems Press., Ed. Rusty Rose & Marc Rosen. 2019.