as with most things, it happened after a bad haircut
by Katie Goldstein
as with most things, it happened after a bad haircut
somewhere between the snip and the shear, my hair decided that I had abandoned it
suddenly, it liked what gravity gave it
the place to be wasn’t my head anymore — it was anywhere but
i’d brush it and the brush would sprout a forest of hair
that I’d throw in the toilet to avoid
showers became dangerous
i’d leave the walls covered in swirls
heck, I would touch my head and hair would jump into my hands
so much that my back became permanently itchy
i took care of it
coddled it
stopped treating it with heat
oiled it
deep conditioned it
loved on it
tied it up at night
even went to the dermatologist
who sent me to get blood tested
(and then, later, the bill)
i swallowed supplements, 8 of them, everyday
charcoal and nutrafol and iron and ashwaganda
and dutifully chugged them down
every day
for a while nothing happened
so i took long walks
and thought of how i’d be so aerodynamic bald
and how i’d be able to enjoy the wind on my scalp on boat rides
but yesterday, I saw baby hairs
just a few
poking out to say hello
as i smiled back i swear i realized a whole new meaning to
hair today, gone tomorrow