How are your children?
she asked
as she rinsed the color
from my hair,
deeply red
like a slaughterhouse by the river
I don't have any,
I said
Just as I had before
the incident
Oh, I'm sorry,
she said as she shampooed
the words into my brain
Lather, rinse, repeat,
with water hotter
than I could bear
A bald woman wearing earplugs
saw me and
winced
while being fitted for a wig
but went back to reading
a People magazine
from 1982
When I returned
with longer hair
9 months on
and was asked again
I told her they were a handful
who never listen to me
without ears
or lips
or eyes
You must bore them,
she said
with a shrug
she asked
as she rinsed the color
from my hair,
deeply red
like a slaughterhouse by the river
I don't have any,
I said
Just as I had before
the incident
Oh, I'm sorry,
she said as she shampooed
the words into my brain
Lather, rinse, repeat,
with water hotter
than I could bear
A bald woman wearing earplugs
saw me and
winced
while being fitted for a wig
but went back to reading
a People magazine
from 1982
When I returned
with longer hair
9 months on
and was asked again
I told her they were a handful
who never listen to me
without ears
or lips
or eyes
You must bore them,
she said
with a shrug
