POETRY MONTH FEATURED POET: LEE LALLY

(Photo of Lee Lally by Michael Lally)

Lee Lally only published one chapbook of poetry, These Days, but it had a strong impact and I still treasure my copy. In the early 70s she was married to another activist and poet, with whom she had two children, before she came out and became a leader in the DC lesbian community. Her chapbook was published by Diana Press. She later again had a male lover. According to one bio, “Lee's enjoyment of life's pleasures sadly ended, however, when she became the unfortunate victim of medical malpractice while undergoing surgery, and wound up in a coma for six years, before finally passing away on March 3rd, 1986.” Below is one of her most-quoted poems:

NIGHT NOISES
for Jane

You woke from a dream
the revolution
in the streets
calling you out.

I had to tell you
the noises were not in your dream.

The army of lovers
was saying goodnight
at the foot of the stairs.
Loud sounds.
It was the revolution.
You were not sleeping
or dreaming.

© Lee Lally, from "These Days" by Diana Press, 1971