For example, talk publicly about sex—
Which is exceptionally colorful and voluble.
Butch-femme escapades,
That would be
Together and ready

In her relationship with
This morning, playing the part of a recalcitrant
Teen-ager.

She watched her own loud
Façade under construction,
Said, “I’m sorry, I worked really hard on this.”
Frustrated, she rubbed her forehead. “This is worse than
Waiting

For the details
Of a prior conviction.
There was no mention of
Not religious, but quality of
Longevity. Indeed,
She was a widow, the greatest liability
To a challenge:
And it was possible to present
A political organizer—as a non-
Threatening old lady.
“Women are better than men,”
Two women doing whatever lesbians do.
To embrace the universal desire for
Romantic love and intimacy
Gay and straight people treat their relationships
Equally,
Sexuality provided Americans
Carnality.

“The minute I heard the story and saw how beautiful she
Was: it couldn’t have been better
“Nobody knows I’m a lesbian,”
Her pink lipstick and pearls would make it easier.

Source text: “The Perfect Wife,” an article about Edith Windsor published in The New Yorker in September 2013: www.newyorker.com/magazine/2013/09/30/the-perfect-wife

Caseyrenée Lopez is a queer writer living with her queer family in the Deep South, USA. She is a poet, editor, and student who loves cookies, coffee, & Promised Land chocolate milk. She is also the founding/managing editor of Crab Fat Literary Magazine and the publisher for Damaged Goods Press. Her recent work has appeared in The Fem, Fuck Fiction, The Outrider Review, Visceral Uterus, Crack the Spine,and Foliate Oak. She is working on her Master’s degree and has hopes for a Ph.D. in Queer Studies in the near future.