the curve<\/strong><\/p>\n

bianca is cutting my hair
\nshe holds a part of it
\ntaut over my head
\nbetween two fingers
\nand cuts it with her 300 dollar shears
\nshe says at first
\nshe was too frightened
\nto cut hair
\nand she just watched
\nshe thought how
\ndo they do this?
\nall that hair
\nwhere do they start?
\nand now she\u2019s beginning
\nto master it
\nit\u2019s simple
\nthe head is round
\nyou just follow the curve<\/p>\n

when bianca talks like this
\ni feel like the world
\nmakes sense
\ni can relax
\nthe world isn\u2019t really a chaos
\nof random accidents<\/p>\n

before i go to the beauty shop
\ni wait until i hate
\nwhat looks back at me in the mirror
\nsometimes it\u2019s six months
\nthe hair all frazzled
\ndifferent lengths
\nhanging shapeless
\ni bring the hairdresser
\nmy fear
\nand each hair that falls
\ndiminishes my strength
\ni know i won\u2019t recognize the thing
\nthe hairdresser creates \u2014
\nsome ugly duplicate
\nof the mass produced mass
\nof females walking around
\nall looking alike \u2014
\ni ask them not to style
\nor spray it
\njust cut it
\nand let me out<\/p>\n

but it\u2019s different today
\nbianca\u2019s cutting my hair
\nshe listens to me
\nshe does what i ask
\nshe\u2019s still learning
\nand tells me about it
\ni trust her
\nand today
\nwhen she asks if she can style
\nand spray it
\ni say yes
\nit makes me happy
\nto have bianca learn on my head
\ni feel like everything\u2019s simple
\nthe world is round
\ni\u2019ll just follow the curve<\/p>\n

~ wendy shaffer<\/p>\n