Existence is contrary
to current moral functions
yet we cannot negate
the corollary truths
hiding in plain sight—

hedge trimming is non-binary
men belong in dresses
eggs are a cautionary tale
and I am a bad feminist
for knowing woman
only exists in ethereal planes.

Tamara Fricke is the 2010 co-winner of the Gertrude Claytor Award of the Academy of American Poets and is previously published by The Lyon Review, Meat for Tea, Attack Bear Press Poetry Vending Machine, Whisper and the Roar, We Will Not Be Silenced, and has been included in a number of compilations.  Her poetry chapbook Our Requiem was released in 2014.  She lives in Springfield, MA, with an ungrateful cat, where she writes grants professionally.