WHAT'S SO VERY WILD IN SHE
THAT MAKES YOU SCREAM ALONG
HER HAIR?

her Hair

she grew wild

until it enshrined her

shrouded her

like a nun

draped to the ankles

in Hair

enough to bury

the clouded iris

of her right eye

to splay

around her navel moon

Hair to hide

the grey lines

on her spine

where her twin

had been

peeled off

at birth

Hair she

could lower

like rope from a tower

and then reel back up

from the skein of shadows

Hair falling over

naked faces

as a new set of hands

felt her scalp

each night

before letting go.

Hair mingled

with the fingers

of tree leaves

traced window eaves,

embraced chimneys

and wooden fence posts

and the masts of boats

tied at the shoreline

Hair spread

across the water

like a dew borne web

a tight spun net

she caught everything in—

a blue bottle

a sliver from an oar

a hand from

what had probably been

a mannequin

a rusted license plate from california

the weight of it wet

drew her head to the window

as if for air, drew

her raw body through

and dragged it

through the streets

and through the fields

and through the streams

and to the sea

where splinters of Hair

still floated

flinching

before the moon's

many

scarred

face.

a l l i s o n   d e f r e e s e
l a w r e n c e ,   k a n s a s

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