Held Hostage By Curls, A Poem

One protruding curl adorned her head till two,challenge for the bald.
Uncaringly, she waddled with her swaying blondeShe witnessed others with defective hairholding a
lock,secret desire to straighten out there lives too.
A baby girl too busy with dolls and cradlesto beShe knew, Straight Hair was at the root of all
held hostage by curls.problems.
Four years later she received twenty-fourAnd then it happened.
homemade ringlets by mom,The unthinkable.
But its then she noticed...The event that could not be forecast.
Her friends had long, straight, shiny locks ofThe most unpredictable moment in her history.
perfectionAfter 46 years of never failing herself,she had
She wanted that, but hers curled !!forgotten to elasticize her mound of glitches after
So began the days of scotched taped bangs andswimming.
blow dryers.Side tracked like she had never been, her hair
It was time to straighten her life out.dried:
Other girls had bouncing hair without a singleOn its own. without any tools of chore.
wrinkle, without a zig, without effort.As her husband approached, mouth hanging open
But her hair became a masterpiece canvass oflike a feeding trout,he blurted, "Your Hair Hon!, I
trial and error.like it, it looks great"
However, the magic words, "How To StraightenThe Hair General was weak kneed. Ready to fall.
Your Hair"written in aEyes tightly closed, she courageously headed
Blow-Dryer-Manual-To-Idealism,would become hertowards her reflection,
ticket to conformity.Before plunging into truth,she cautiously peeked
It worked.through the corner of her right eye,
Wow, her curls transformed into streamingWith her mouth hanging open like a feeding
stands of shining fullnesstrout,her brain processed what must have been,
Farah hair, incredible Farah hair.1000 twisted zags of reality.
Now the lioness of straightness was Queen.This wasn't for the faint of heart, but the General
Except when it rained.could do it. She knew it.
Perfect hair was a task only for the willing.She forced both eyes open into a stare that
Swimming became a chronically planned de-curlinglasted 46 years for one second.
event.She gently touched her sheep head, feeling each
"The bad hair weekend", also known askink, for the very first time.
"Camping", wasa militaristic regiment of selfHer swirls had never been left to their own
nurturing for the hair flawed.devices. Never.
She could not show her corkscrewed inadequacyShe was witnessing a first.
in its nakedness. Not Ever.Now you can look in the top left hand side of her
Campfire sing songs by angelic girls and theirdresser,
bouncing mounds of straight,flat, free-swayingAmong her keepsakes sits a dusty blow dryer
weather resistant quaffs of silkmade her projectand a perfectly good flat iron.
of fulfillment a mission for the mentally trained.From time to time she reflectively looks in on
Ready to securely paste her frizz mountain to herthem.
head, she always cameequipped with camping'sShe even ponders their use again someday.
mandatory primary tools, "elastic bands".But she has discovered something so cutting edge
Backpacking through Europe was no match forit holds her back:
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, andlastly the most covetedsoul,her giving nature is what makes her beautiful.
travel tool known to mankind, the electricalShe is her own person, and she appreciates, for
adaptor.the first time in her life,that Curls don't make or
You see, she was the General Extraordinaire ofbreak the girl.
Straight Hair and she knew it.Today she rinses, repeats, applies leave in
Nothing, not one single thing could prevent Theconditioner, muffles her curlicues,looks into the
Straight Hair Plan from being executed.mirror and knows who she is:
The births of four sons required carefully packedA grown woman, the lioness of curly, the
hospital bags.embracer of self,too busy to be held hostage by
Days of one hundred percent humidity, alsocurls.
known as 'Mission-Prevent-Insanity',were only a