Spencer Reece's "The Clerk's Tale" and queer identity in retail

¶ … Clerk's tale

Poem Response -- "The Clerk's Tale"

The narrative of the poem called "The Clerk's Tale" is a slice-of-life vignette apparently taken from the poet Spencer Reece's real biography. (Reece, p.2) the poem is set when Reece is thirty-three, and working at an expensive clothier. The location is rife with contradictions. On one hand, Reece is gay, and working with another gay man who wears bracelets, Clinique bronzer, and smokes Benson & Hedges cigarettes like a Hollywood starlet. However, both of these gay men sell their clothing to a largely heterosexual clientele, "with wives and families that grow exponentially" and they must call the men "Sir," as if they are respectful butlers rather than employees of a store. Because of their mutually shared sexuality, the two men enjoy a special sense of fellowship away from the customers. They make bawdy jokes, together although Reece hints that there is "bittersweet' acceptance in his colleague's sexual identity. With the customers: "We are more gracious than English royalty." In other words, their professional demeanor is always very different than their personal demeanor. They must wear a false face.

The poem ends as the two men close up the shop, taking a certain amount of subtle pleasure from closing the door in the faces of the late customers. As they leave, the poem reveals that they are working the Mall of America, a particularly "garish" place. Only Reece knows that the leather bag the security guards examines before they can leave was bought while his colleague was traveling with his lover in Europe. Then, the two of them part, and are alone in the busy, sprawling metropolis.