Historically, a broadsheet is an advertisement or collection of work—poetry, for example—on a single side of a large sheet of paper or poster, distributed in hard copy. I’ve decided to do a series of broadsheets on this blog. Today’s will include one photo and the poem I wrote to accompany it. I do write poetry, but rarely publish it online anywhere, as traditional publishers consider a poem published once it has been uploaded (anywhere). The poems I’ll publish here have already been published elsewhere. I will credit the publisher, as well as the photographer in each case. Here is today’s entry:

photo by Anya Blasser June 15, 1984

 

TUXEDO AND GOWN (BEAUTIFUL)

 

We were beautiful the day

we went to the prom. The

gay and lesbian prom took

place on June 15, 1984. You

rented a tux, I bought a

vintage gown and let out the

seams. We both had the

loose curls of romance, and

the pink bloom of youth.

Your photographer friend

came to the house and

took professional shots of

you, me, us, my cat, our

flowers, piano, and the

sun streaming in the windows.

You were slim, handsome

in your white shirt, black

tux, cummerbund and tie, I

was voluptuous and beaming

in shell pink tulle, white lace,

rose pink taffeta with satin

undergarments that made

seductive music when I walked.

We look like newlyweds in

that stack of photographs.

There is a shot of our hands

in white-gold filigree rings with

expensive stones, holding hands,

though we were never wed,

only divorced after nineteen

years. On prom day we

were beautiful.