Gender Roles

You’ve really got the girl thing down
he says to me, all basic boy.

I’m wearing pink
from my panties to my pumps.

Perhaps I should be offended.
But sometimes it’s just easier

to put on lip gloss,
bat my eyelashes,

and let him do all the work.

Melissa McGraw earned a bachelor’s degree in English from Carroll University. She has been published in Wisconsin People & Ideas, Anthills, Arbor Vitae, RE/VERSE, The Shout, Portage Magazine, Century, and Wisconsin Poets’ Calendar. She lives in Madison with her husband and two rescue dogs, seeking aesthetically pleasing adventures.