Sarah in a Suitcase (1997)
©1997, 2013 by Dallas Denny
Source: Denny, Dallas. (1998, Spring). Sarah in a suitcase. Gender Quest, 3. Reprinted in August 1998 in All The Beautiful People, 4, and 23 October, 1998 in Fantasia Fair Newsletter, 4.
I wrote this poem on my way home from Fantasia Fair, having witnessed a Fair attendee’s profound awakening during the week and emotional crash when it was time to go home.
Fantasia Fair Newsletter Pages (PDF)
All the Beautiful People Pages (PDF)
Sarah in a Suitcase
Midweek, I saw her
Reciting, joyously, a poem just written
Of Sarah, escaped from her prison
Tripping lightly down Commercial Street
Shopping, dining, discovering herself
Blossoming, growing
Happy just to be
On Saturday night, she sat in the doorway in her pajamas
Singing, smiling
Still drinking in the experience
Still wearing Sarah’s face
Until she remembered her time was short
And collapsed, weeping, weeping
At the thought of the morrow
On Sunday morning, she made it to brunch
dressed in her gorilla suit
Her vulnerability packed away
As carefully as her clothes
Uncomfortable with our hugs
Brusque, rigid
Lest Sarah burst unbidden
From a suitcase grown much too small