State Fair Pony
michelle tea writes
poetically anecdotal
about childhood
adolescence
adulthood
fucking
and fucking up
nothing is untouched
I think she would smile
to see her name start this poem.
this collection of her poetry
beautiful
I judged immediately
by its matte cover
the new trend in good writing.
glossy covers come as
cheesy queer fiction and mysteries.
I work in a gay bookstore
rarely encountering a straight person
except for students in search of textbooks
who will find their first assignment
to be about their gay bookstore experience
Did You Talk to Any Gays?
Where They Nice?
Did You Feed Them?
well, like, there was this one girl,
well, I think she was a girl.
whatever.
like, she was sorta mean
but, like, I didn't know how to work my credit card
so I was sorta, like,
distracted
trying to figure out where to sign the receipt.
I hope I make it into all of their
first writing assignments
about experiencing a
culture
outside their own.
maybe one of them will title their writing
BIG SCARY DYKE
and get a chuckle from the professor
who isn't realizing
that I don't consider my job a showcase
of gay fucking culture.
Angry Lesbian Lashes Out
at Being Made a State Fair Pony.
News at 11.
this bookstore is a resource for this community
and this resource requires
sweeping,
dusting,
and mopping.
it's my job
and I prefer to do these
without being the model for
First Encounter With A Homosexual.
January 4, 2006