Laurence Carr held too many jobs over the decades: Golf Caddy; The Popcorn King at Kennywood Amusement Park; painter (walls and fences); answered phones at numerous NYC businesses (was hastily dismissed for not knowing everything about the companies); actor (a modest career but got to play Lubbock, TX); a goal was to be a geek in a mid-western sideshow but my career swerved; theatre director, artistic director, playwright, mentor of creative and dramatic writer; editor; woods wanderer...
the orchard of many colors (the LGBTQ+ pizza party)
by Laurence Carr
out on the farm
rainbow banners swag the pavilion
……….beer and cider of amber gold
……….margarita pizzas
……….apple sliced & sausaged
we order it all and sit
……….at old-school picnic tables
the music decibels to dance party
where a mirrorball hangs above
……….the loose straw mat
we’re city country here
……….urban and urbane
ur-wanderers through acres of
……….apples and pears
a cheeky set of males
……….closely stubbled and t-shirt tight
observes every move and entrance
……….women unfettered long ago
each with signature hair
……….in tees bantering snarky truths
dancers join the hay strewn ground
……….some tentative, some boldly resolute
in this safe harbor
……….where sails unfurl
with families, singles, friends
……….and children not yet taught to turn
……….against……….away……….oppose
we watch it all……….……….we two
who wandered here for cider and a slice
we two……….who never fit in anywhere
feel celebration here
……….in this safe harbor far away from
the picket’s charge of scolding screams
……….…………….and poisonous threats
from those who don’t yet grasp that
they…………are just another other
Laurence Carr is a Hudson Valley writer, editor and educator. His books include: Strides, reflections on 6 acres with artist Edward O’Hara; Traverse, with artist Power Boothe; Paradise Loft (poems) co-published by Lightwood Press/CAPS Press; Threnodies and The Wytheport Tales from Codhill Press, where he edited four anthologies, including A Slant of Light, Contemporary Women Writers of the Hudson Valley, winner of the USA Best Book Award for Fiction Anthology. The novel, Pancake Hollow Primer, (Codhill Press), won a Next Generation Indie Book Award. He taught creative and dramatic writing for 24 years at SUNY New Paltz (NY). He’s widely published, and his plays have been produced throughout the U.S and Europe. He is publisher and writer for Lightwood, a magazine of arts and culture at Lightwoodpress.com. Also visit at www.carrwriter.com.