now Luria

now Luria Dickson
and the women were saying
a sing-along folk event

and the late Rick Griffin
his parents were Communists
they ran into his son, who’d grown his hair
and joined the merriment
who died of a drug overdose in 1970
they divorced in 1993

now Siena Riffia
always naked under her mink coat
fighting the fucking revolution
died of a suspected overdose on a New York subway in 1978

There was so much dope rising in the air
you can’t build a social movement
on love and liberation

we’re making goddamn dinner again

Source text: www.vanityfair.com/culture/2012/07/lsd-drugs-summer-of-love-sixties

both of them

both of them
not just poetry

the latter seems to me to have been just as full
and, for the record, entirely “experimental”
as it currently exists

for better or for worse
those committed
and inadequate
attended
a small epiphany

I don’t mean all
thankfully not all
thankfully not always

I don’t recall the former, of course
only this one matches
this is a point I will come back to later.

Source text: joyouscrybaby.com/2012/05/22/marjorie-perloff-and-the-failure-of-success/

it’s right around the corner

it’s right around the corner, in eight days
so please don’t think I am
not necessarily a happier person right now,
but a person who takes less things for granted

he was 24
I miss hearing his name very much
even when in a crowd

having no children of my own
and being estranged from my father
I very much agree.
like your son
who adored him

Source text: therumpus.net/2011/07/dear-sugar-the-rumpus-advice-column-78-the-obliterated-place/

Stephen S. Power is a Pushcart-nominated poet who has published work most recently in “Clarion,” “Innisfree Poetry Journal,” “Iron Horse Literary Review,” “The MacGuffin” and “Measure.” His first novel, “The Dragon Round” will be published by Simon451 in July 2016, and his stories have appeared at “AE” and “Daily Science Fiction.” He tweets at @stephenspower, and his website is stephenspower.com

For example, talk publicly about sex—
Which is exceptionally colorful and voluble.
Butch-femme escapades,
That would be
Together and ready

In her relationship with
This morning, playing the part of a recalcitrant
Teen-ager.

She watched her own loud
Façade under construction,
Said, “I’m sorry, I worked really hard on this.”
Frustrated, she rubbed her forehead. “This is worse than
Waiting

For the details
Of a prior conviction.
There was no mention of
Not religious, but quality of
Longevity. Indeed,
She was a widow, the greatest liability
To a challenge:
And it was possible to present
A political organizer—as a non-
Threatening old lady.
“Women are better than men,”
Two women doing whatever lesbians do.
To embrace the universal desire for
Romantic love and intimacy
Gay and straight people treat their relationships
Equally,
Sexuality provided Americans
Carnality.

“The minute I heard the story and saw how beautiful she
Was: it couldn’t have been better
“Nobody knows I’m a lesbian,”
Her pink lipstick and pearls would make it easier.

Source text: “The Perfect Wife,” an article about Edith Windsor published in The New Yorker in September 2013: www.newyorker.com/magazine/2013/09/30/the-perfect-wife

Caseyrenée Lopez is a queer writer living with her queer family in the Deep South, USA. She is a poet, editor, and student who loves cookies, coffee, & Promised Land chocolate milk. She is also the founding/managing editor of Crab Fat Literary Magazine and the publisher for Damaged Goods Press. Her recent work has appeared in The Fem, Fuck Fiction, The Outrider Review, Visceral Uterus, Crack the Spine,and Foliate Oak. She is working on her Master’s degree and has hopes for a Ph.D. in Queer Studies in the near future.

Let Me Pamper You Lovingly

I am still serious
when necessary
with my great sense of humor
fun educated and cute
a retired Chippendale dancer
who demands respect for his mind.

You may delay but time will not
there are long walks waiting for us at the beach
a glass of wine to drink before the fire
and horses to curry
before we cuddle away the day.

Is there anybody out there
brutally honest
tall, dark, and handsome
looking for her better half
glass half full
couch empty
heart overflowing?

Fun and fit guy looking for same
Pisces girl wanted,
a real lady who cleans up well,
goes from jeans to stilettos in sixty seconds
no more lackluster girls please;
let’s blow up the night.

Looking for a foodie with benefits
medical, dental, conjugal
no plus size gals
let’s try this out
I want to start a family
If you’re gutsy and you know you’re sexy
this is me—a natural hairy woman
what about you?
forty-six reasons why I’m giving up on Craigslist.

Source text: A compilation of excerpts from Craigslist personal ads.

Rainy Day Luncheonette

Gyoza counter seat, alone, sashimi plate.
Rain stripes the window.
My rocking heart runs out of light.
From now on, the atmosphere is likely to be unstable
no sound, the opposite would be inorganic.
Silence again, just for my father.

Light and sound
in the park hope was left until the last moment.
The green umbrella billows down the street
under its own steam. Which way?
The wind binds my ankles
has its way with me.
I don’t know that it’s a slipknot.
There’s a saying, “no ginger;”
give up the possibilities.
A chance miracle worker
is given equally to everyone.

Source text: These words are from Japanese Facebook posts, translated via Bing.

Sandra Anfang is a poet, teacher, and visual artist. Her poems have appeared in Poetalk, San Francisco Peace and Hope, West Trestle Review, Tower Journal, Clementine, Corvus, Unbroken, Silver Birch Press, and many others. She is a California Poet/Teacher in the Schools and hosts a monthly poetry series in Petaluma, CA.