Tipsy, bold
at Year of Dragon bash
Decorations
banish winter’s gloom
Chinese red lanterns spotlight my feet
advancing a path towards you

You look mystical in black
Brandy Alexander in your hand
I watch
You raise the sweet drink to your lips
taste
swallow

Hip, urban Wildean poet
I approach you with last second fear
You stare me down with two Horus eyes
make me want to disappear

Nevertheless, I get to the point
I blurt it out, I know you like men
But I can change
Wear a ski hat
Wipe off lipstick on my sleeve

We can talk about your poetry
I’ll get you another drink
and another for me
I’ll laugh at all your jokes
Hard
My ears will open wide
a hibiscus of listening
I’ll be your Rainbow Sister
or mother or aunt
Your muse
Try me out
Trust me
Give this straight girl a chance

Jacqueline Moss has traced her ancestry back to the Whiskey Rebellion uprising in Southwestern Pennsylvania in the late 1700s. She continues to search for sacred medicine on the sandy beaches, salty winds and rustling music of trees of eastern Long Island. Her home is located on the site of a Native American burial ground.