A POEM
Written by our client, Robbie Sanders
At 8 she fought with mom
To take a bath
Wash her hair
Short, dark brown with red highlights.
Didn’t need washing
(Only clothes get dirty!)
She needed to go to the hutch
Feed her rabbits, climb one more tree
At 16 she washed her long,
Straight hair
Wound strands of hair, gooped with gel
around huge rollers and
Suffered through an uncomfortable night’s sleep
In the morning, adjusted the curls
Creating a flip at the shoulders
Walked to school, arriving at home room
With straight brown hair.
At 20 she washed her hair
Leaving it long and straight,
Like Joan Baez, Grace Slick and Joni Mitchell
Cascading to her lower back.
Tying a scarf around her forehead or
Weaving it into one of two long braids
She leaves the dorm for Psychology 101.
At 35, no time to wash her hair
Pulling it back in a ponytail
She washed her children’s hair.
Dark brown with red highlights
Full of leaf bits, Elmer’s glue and jelly.
Threads of silver had begun
To frame her face.
At 49 she washed her hair
The gray part curly, the brown was straight.
It has been short, long, blown dry, ironed flat
And permed (big mistake)
She’s late for work
At 68 she washed her hair,
White like her father’s had been,
Covered with unfamiliar waves
Rubs it with the towel and
With a nod of satisfaction
She steps outside
To let her hair dry in the sun
Robbie Sanders
