It Is Common for Birds Raising Young Together to Have Almost the Same Plumage

And I start wearing her clothes a week after
taking care of the cats together.
Molt my button-downs for the wraparound dress,
flowers around my neck.
My hair lightens to almost the same blonde,
I thrift boots with a heel nearly identical
and I like this.

I don’t get the comment from my friends that
I am perfectly androgynous
much anymore.

But I pour the cat his food in the morning.
I look at my chest and something that has gathered there
is unwinding.
My chest looks like
her chest,
where the cat will rest his head tonight.

Lately, I am masculine
the way a goose is masculine,
and I like this.

Basil Wilcox is a queer poet living in Ypsilanti, MI, with their partner and four cats who run the place. They hold degrees from the University of Michigan and Florida Atlantic University. Their work often explores the quiet tensions of memory, identity, and belonging.