That Night

Fifty people are dead after a man opened fire early Sunday inside a gay nightclub in Orlando

-New York Times
June 12, 2016

That night we drank a few shots at the bar
That night we were shot many times at the bar

That night the bartender cried, “Last call!”
That night we frantically made last calls

That night the music pulsed through our veins
That night the bullets tore through our veins

That night we got down and sweated together
That night we fell down and bled together

That night the bartender mixed Bloody Marys
That night the killer fixed bloody Marys

That night some of us shared our first kiss
That night all of us shared our last kiss

That night we danced in each other’s arms
That night we died in each other’s arms

That night turned into a cloud-streaked morning
That night turned into a tear-streaked mourning

“That Night” copyright © 2016 by Lesléa Newman. Reprinted by permission of the author.

---

Lesléa Newman

Lesléa Newman’s 70 books include OCTOBER MOURNING: A SONG FOR MATTHEW SHEPARD (novel-in-verse), I CARRY MY MOTHER (poetry collection), and HEATHER HAS TWO MOMMIES (children’s book). A past poet laureate of Northampton, MA, and NEA poetry fellow, she lives with her spouse, Mary Vazquez, a retired club deejay, in Massachusetts.