Her Hair Plays With Fire
A girl watches her mother
who sits on the edge of the bed,
mirror in hand, brushing out
the coiled bun, counting out loud
one hundred strokes, sparks flying,
the mirror catching a setting sun
that glows in the west window.
The girl loves being in this moment.
During the day the mother wears
the silence of the dad’s flannel shirts
and old lady coiled-up hair.
The girl suspects that if her mother
leaned toward the sun she’d bloom,
but it takes time for a girl to learn
that rosy colors can alert suspicious eyes
and steal the peace.
© Mary Sesso
Mary Sesso is a retired nurse who lives in Bethesda, MD with her dog, Beau. She’s active in 3 poetry workshops and is a member of the Writer’s Center. Her chapbook, The Open Window, was published in 2019, and an upcoming chapbook, Her Hair Plays With Fire, will come out in July.
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