with sporadic, unpredictable hours,
and a shop inconveniently located smack-dab center of a perpetual rain storm.
And so,
when contestant #15,383 said, "Great hair!"
and really meant "How desperate are you to be seen,
complimented,
valued,
loved?" and, more to the point,
"Are you willing to fuck me to get it?"
Poor Rappy lost her shit right there in the coffee bar.
It's hard, if you've never tried it,
to saw off ten years' growth with a plastic knife meant for
spreading cream cheese with,
but our Raps found herself filled with Messianic vigor,
and, too, her cause was flat-out righteous.
Have you ever seen a perfectly normal girl with really unbelievably long hair
arch her back and hiss?
Here was your chance,
and pity if you missed it.
Her girlfriends call her "Berry", which started as
Rappy, then Rappy Raspberry, then just Berry.
Now they say,
"Lookit YOU, sugar!" and rise out of their mid-afternoon drowse
and make all appropriate noises one makes about a girl with a fresh style.
So, when contestant #15,384 asked if she was a dyke,
out of jealousy or fear of female power or
by way of eliciting a shame response or something,
she was Teflon,
she was made of gold,
gloriously side-shaved and in the moment,
too cool for fools and he walked out, hands in pockets,
back to his wife and the
apartment above the empty shop in the never-ending rain storm.
And our Berry?
She does her own hair now. Word.
_________
for Camera FLASH!
That ending cracked me up. The whole thing is totally rad. This is probably my favorite of your styles.
ReplyDeleteLove it, but in the end doing your own hair means take power of your own destiny... and I guess Rapunzel got her independence from both hairdressers and knights.
ReplyDeleteYou slay me... Damn this was good,
ReplyDeleteI will always love you for that ending!!💘 A quiet strength follows this protagonist as she makes her way through the pool of overrated norms and hairdressers.
ReplyDeleteFun romp! I loved the end of this. Nothing like taking your power back - in spades.
ReplyDeleteSo creative and powerful
ReplyDeleteYou always amaze
namaste
JzB
Love your sassy Rapunzel!
ReplyDeleteSassy and classy... and with balls. I like Berry. Good one!
ReplyDelete"How desperate are you to be seen,
ReplyDeletecomplimented,
valued,
loved?" and, more to the point,
"Are you willing to fuck me to get it?"
Of all the many factors you have included in this poem, this one strikes me as the most valid for the times in which we live. Sex is still a form of currency - a human trait that we cannot seem to evade.
Your gift for realizing mad but oh so believable characters never fails to amaze me--you paint a very contrarian picture of a stereotype here and make it seem more real than any fairy tale could ever be. Under the words we have, as always, the roller coaster ride of the human experience, the confusion and then the certainty of the heart, and a wild magic that says it will have its own way no matter what we say. Love it, Shay.
ReplyDeleteThis was a rant-story that didn't even take a break for a breath.
ReplyDeleteWhat a poem, Shay!
Rainstorm and all this is creativity extraodinaire. Here' a rant to freedom and the feminine spirit
ReplyDeleteHappy Sunday
Much💖love
Amazed at your sassiness! Loved it!
ReplyDeleteI especially love the arching of the back and the hiss. "Pity if you missed it." And "Word." Glorious to read and envision.
ReplyDeleteThis rocks! Your character development in limited words amazes me. This story comes on hard and it ends brilliantly.
ReplyDeleteHave you ever seen a perfectly normal girl with really unbelievably long hair
ReplyDeletearch her back and hiss?
Here was your chance,
and pity if you missed it.
What more is there to be said - this sums up the sassy back talking attitude that literally screams and scissors itself throughout - from start to perfectly clipped end. Loved it.
*Snort* This is my favorite!
ReplyDeleteOMG the side shave. Shay, I think I love this the most of all your poems I've read. I just adore it!! Rawk! Thank you! Word.
ReplyDeleteYou have quite an imagination, my friend.
ReplyDeleteWord!
ReplyDelete"Word"! In-freaking-deed. I was there, arching my back and baring my teeth with her. One just can't stay impartial or untouched around this kind of liberating power. This is glorious, Shay. Just glorious.
ReplyDeleteAnother one I would love to hear you read aloud.
absolute ravaging piece. i can see this happening. gracias once again, Shay, for sharing your artistic talent which is always, RAWR, inspiring
ReplyDelete