Unbound

by Leslie Shalduha

She lets down her tight chignon

I say to her

“Your hair is glorious lately!”

She says

“I think I am releasing

what has held me all these years”

Of course, I realize

Our locks carry our truth

The knowing of this

Lands softly

Images flash

How they control

Us women

By legislating

How we hair

She says

“Let him brush it”

The evil stepmother

“It brings him joy”

The father

Never mind if it hurts

Sit still and let him

How they sever the

Braided strength of indigenous women

To display their supposed dominance

How we cover our hair

So as not to incite desire

That his weakness

Is our burden

How we leave our hair long

To catch a man

He who then says

“If you cut your hair,

I will leave you”

How a woman with a shorn head

Not hit upon by a jackass in a bar

‘Cause he thought her a

 ‘Women’s Study Professor’

As if this is an insult

Finally

True understanding dawns

She becomes unbound

As her thick copper mane

Flows free, light

As I became unbound

With the shearing of my own

They say

“How could you”

I say

“I feel free, the most like

myself I ever have”