Louie Crew


Fey


My one earring stores my powers.

It charms my lover into bed.
Worn aisle-side on buses and trains,
        it reserves me a double seat
        until all others are filled.
On campus it keeps me off all
        but the most enlightened committees.
It is 99% foolproof in protecting me
        from wasting time on racists.
At times it has made otherwise sane folks
        dangle from dormitory windows to giggle,
        "Where's your husband?"
Worn with a cap and gown, it wards off
        any threat of Respectability.
In class, it assures that students question
        what I say and not vainly agree
        because of who said it.
In church, it has made stranger priests
        spill me a double portion of the Mass....

When I take it off, people take me
        for any other mortal.



Louie Crew has edited special issues of College English and Margins. He has written four poetry volumes Sunspots (Lotus Press, Detroit, 1976), Midnight Lessons (Samisdat, 1987), Lutibelle's Pew (Dragon Disks,1990), and Queers! for Christ's Sake! (Dragon Disks, 2003).

The University of Michigan collects all his papers.

 
 
 
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