Today's poem is by Denise Duhamel and Maureen Seaton

12 Lines about Gender (Retro-style)
       

When I was in high school, no one knew the word genderqueer
would be walking the halls hand in hand with the word bi-gender
trading lip gloss and rainbow suspenders with gender-fluid
cheerleaders and soccer players we all assumed were cisgender
until Halloween when they were ghosts or elves, androgynous,
or dressed up as a whole new gender (Boo!) not yet identified.
No one knew Victoria's Secret Valentina Sampaio, first transgender
supermodel, would win so many hearts or influence so many male
heteros who ogled her, asking themselves, "What is a gender
supposed to do when the world is expanding into spirits?"
No one knew back then how expansive the word female,
that American Pie was really American pi, that the levy wasn't dry.

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Copyright © 2024 Denise Duhamel and Maureen Seaton All rights reserved
from Pleiades
Reprinted by Verse Daily® with permission