Held Hostage By Curls, A Poem

One protruding curl adorned her head till two,She witnessed others with defective hair
Uncaringly, she waddled with her swaying blondeholding a secret desire to straighten out there
lock,lives too.
A baby girl too busy with dolls and cradlesShe knew, Straight Hair was at the root of all
to be held hostage by curls.Four years later sheproblems.And then it happened.
received twenty-four homemade ringlets byThe unthinkable.
mom,The event that could not be forecast.
But its then she noticed...The most unpredictable moment in her history.
Her friends had long, straight, shiny locks ofAfter 46 years of never failing herself,
perfectionshe had forgotten to elasticize her mound of
She wanted that, but hers curled !!glitches after swimming.
So began the days of scotched taped bangs andSide tracked like she had never been, her hair
blow dryers.dried:
It was time to straighten her life out.Other girlsOn its own. without any tools of chore.
had bouncing hair without a single wrinkle, withoutAs her husband approached, mouth hanging open
a zig, without effort.like a feeding trout,
But her hair became a masterpiece canvass ofhe blurted, "Your Hair Hon!, I like it, it looks
trial and error.great"The Hair General was weak kneed. Ready
However, the magic words, "How To Straightento fall.
Your Hair"Eyes tightly closed, she courageously headed
written in a Blow-Dryer-Manual-To-Idealism,towards her reflection,
would become her ticket to conformity.ItBefore plunging into truth,
worked.she cautiously peeked through the corner of her
Wow, her curls transformed into streamingright eye,
stands of shining fullnessWith her mouth hanging open like a feeding trout,
Farah hair, incredible Farah hair.
Now the lioness of straightness was Queen.her brain processed what must have been,
Except when it rained.1000 twisted zags of reality.This wasn't for the
Perfect hair was a task only for the willing.faint of heart, but the General could do it. She
Swimming became a chronically planned de-curlingknew it.
event.She forced both eyes open into a stare that
"The bad hair weekend", also known aslasted 46 years for one second.
"Camping", wasShe gently touched her sheep head, feeling each
a militaristic regiment of self nurturing for the hairkink, for the very first time.
flawed.She could not show her corkscrewedHer swirls had never been left to their own
inadequacy in its nakedness. Not Ever.devices. Never.
Campfire sing songs by angelic girls and theirShe was witnessing a first.Now you can look in
bouncing mounds of straight,the top left hand side of her dresser,
flat, free-swaying weather resistant quaffs of silkAmong her keepsakes sits a dusty blow dryer
made her project of fulfillment a mission for theand a perfectly good flat iron.
mentally trained.From time to time she reflectively looks in on
Ready to securely paste her frizz mountain tothem.
her head, she always cameShe even ponders their use again someday.
equipped with camping's mandatory primaryBut she has discovered something so cutting
tools, "elastic bands".Backpacking through Europeedge it holds her back:
was no match for the disciplined straightener.She cannot go back to who she is not.
Dual powered blow dryers, multi-colored elastics,Her individuality, her confidence, her smile, her
back-up cream-rinse, andsoul,
lastly the most coveted travel tool known toher giving nature is what makes her beautiful.
mankind, the electrical adaptor.She is her own person, and she appreciates, for
You see, she was the General Extraordinaire ofthe first time in her life,
Straight Hair and she knew it.Nothing, not onethat Curls don't make or break the girl.Today she
single thing could prevent The Straight Hair Planrinses, repeats, applies leave in conditioner,
from being executed.muffles her curlicues,
The births of four sons required carefully packedlooks into the mirror and knows who she is:
hospital bags.A grown woman, the lioness of curly, the
Days of one hundred percent humidity, alsoembracer of self,
known as 'Mission-Prevent-Insanity',too busy to be held hostage by curls.
were only a challenge for the bald.