On Learning the Department of Justice, Using an Artistic Expression Argument, Will Side With the Colorado Baker Who Refused to Sell a Wedding Cake to a Same-Sex Couple

By Joni Mayer

The baker is open to the public,
may have asked his other couples
how and where they met—eHarmony,
blind date, a Boulder bar, but never Grindr—
may have been inspired by those data to use
apricot filling in place of peach mousse,
to stack four tiers instead of three,
may have lied under oath to veil his hate
when he said he’d sold gay folks birthday cakes
and retirement cakes. Artistic expression, this reason
will melt in a higher court like buttercream frosting
in the afternoon heat.
A cake is not a poem.

Joni Mayer grew up in Birmingham, Alabama and has lived in San Diego, California since 1986. After a 30-year career in academia focusing on health behavior research, she retired early to return full time to the world of poetry. Her poems have appeared in AURA Literary Arts Review, Eckerd Review, San Diego Poetry Annual, and Acorn Review.

Photo credit: Victoria Pickering via a Creative Commons license.