By Farzana Doctor
The baby dykes on the dance floor
Wanna know
How long have you two been together?
Just met today, I tell them
But they can’t hear over the thrum
Of music, bodies, lust
Three hours, I yell
And cast a glance at my date
We share a middle-aged smirk
But there is approval
In their mock-matron eyes
And they lean in to say:
We’re having a big gay marriage!
With an open bar!
A roast beef dinner!
Been there, done that.
My date mutters in my ear
Me too, I whisper
I close my eyes and remember
That ours was a commitment ceremony
She and I weren’t legal back then
I wore my mother’s bridal gagra choli
And my aunties gave blessings with
Tin-foiled coconuts circling my head
I open my eyes to see
My handsome butch date
Watching me. You OK?
I nod, pull her in closer
Her hand reaches up my skirt
I suck salt off her neck
Later, she drives me to her place
I stay two hours
Before kissing her goodbye
Farzana Doctor’s second novel Six Metres of Pavement won the 2012 Lambda Literary Award and was named as one of NOW Magazine’s Top Ten Books of 2011. She will be reading at Proud Voices on June 30th at 5pm.
The Ethnic Aisle 