I HEAR PEOPLE ARE MEMORIZING POEMS AND PRAYERS AGAIN

by Janice Lloyd

Janice Lloyd is a former editor and writer at USA TODAY. She has taken poetry seminars with Danusha Lameris, Richard Blanco, and Major Jackson and is working on her first chap book. 

WHEN I SAW TRUMP'S ANTI-TRANS CAMPAIGN ADS

by Janice Lloyd

I

I remembered the 1960s

when I would count the seconds

walking home from elementary school

until mom handed me my blue overnight bag

with my favorite flannel pjs and drove me

on Fridays to my girlfriend’s house.

How their home was like ones mom fantasized

about in Better Homes & Gardens magazine.

Upstairs had three bedrooms with full baths for kids,

and downstairs, off a marble foyer with a chandelier,

was a living room half the size of our house. 

How ladies in cocktail dresses and high heels

would sit straight-backed on the edge

of puffy sofas and chairs with their ankles crossed. 

Husbands in suits & ties would bring them drinks.

How we tiptoed by to gaze at elegance, respectability.

Her mom ushered us to my friend’s bedroom 

to play Candy Land or with Barbies.

II

Her younger brother John, alone in his room,

started screaming: No, Dad, please no. 

How my friend kept on playing with Barbie,

said, John wants to wear dresses, be called Suzy, 

and visit with the party guests. Dad gives him a shot,

lets him sleep it off so no one knows about him. How I lay awake 

in her poster bed that night wondering about John, 

went home the next morning, told mom.

She struck a match, lit a Tareyton cigarette,

said nothing. She started driving me 

to the skating rink to meet new friends. 

A few years later, she showed me John’s obit. 

No cause listed. We thought—suicide?

III

How I wish my friend and I could have played

dress up with Suzy the night of  her parents’ party.

Helped her put bright red lipstick on her lips.

Wear mascara.

Her favorite dress.

The Advocate, November 7, 2024

Janice Lloyd is a former journalist who spent her career at USA TODAY, is a married lesbian and writes poetry she workshops with other poets.