By Krista Cox
There’s this line of white faces
in cisgender suits standing
in front of the toilet
at Safeway. Their arms are locked
together but it’s not in a gay way
they’ll tell you
without being asked. On Facebook
someone’s grizzled uncle says, “Aren’t you afraid
of your daughters pissing
where men are?” Aren’t you afraid of
men? We want to protect you
from men. Guns
is synonymous with rights
now and we can’t have this
conversation
without having that
one, which makes sense
if you think about it since guns are why I fear men
most. The symbolism alone
is terrifying. So many men couldn’t protect me
from themselves
but they still line up to try. Your protection is indistinguishable
from threat. Your anger is fear
with a scapegoat and it
looks like me, dresses like me, asks
let me be me. Put another way,
please let me live.
Bio: Krista Cox is a paralegal, an associate poetry editor at Stirring: A Literary Collection, and the Program Director of Lit Literary Collective, a non-profit dedicated to serving her local literary community. Her poetry has appeared or is forthcoming in Antiphon, Whale Road Review, and Pittsburgh Poetry Review, among other places. Find her work and more about her at http://kristacox.me.
