Read Poem: Straight White Women Wear Bright Clothes, by Madeline Moeller

Much like a bear,
these southern white women
will fight, tooth and nail,
for their cubs
and their sleuth.1

Much like a mouse,
this queer person
slinks from their hole,
afraid to leave
and face the sun.

I envy these women,
with painted claws: a perfect
pink. Nature documentary mommas
with feathered eyelashes painstakingly
applied every morning.

I know
nature documentaries are scripted.
Reality: the bears
get punched to death
too.

But when they leave their house
and enter that restroom,
they don’t worry
that red stains ruin their
bright clothes.

1 A group of bears