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IN THE BEAUTY PARLOR
by April Halprin Wayland
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I play on the floor
with my lavender horse
while Mama’s hair
is cut and combed.
Clouds scowl outside.
Then dark skies break—
I dash to the window—
a storm pours down!
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Rumbling! Thundering!
Lightning crashing!
I jump—
oak tree cracking!
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Everyone
and Mama and me
presses against glass
to see the tree.
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Rain pours,
patters,
drips…
stops.
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Clouds pull apart
like dinner rolls.
Crumbs float off,
blue pokes through.
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I sit back on the floor
near the hair-cutter’s chair.
Horse grazes in a field
of Mama’s hair.
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(c) 2011 April Halprin Wayland, all rights reserved
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The story behind the poem:
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I was in the beauty parlor listening to news of another earthquake in Japan. I began to think about how easily we settle back into our normal lives…even after incredible tragedy strikes nearby.
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I’ve written a poem before about a child whose horse grazes on the floor of a beauty parlor while the mother is having her hair cut, as my son used to play when he was small.
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Confession: 30 poems in 30 days will produce some pretty raw poetry. This one doesn’t hang together yet. It’s too long and just not right yet. So, I guess today’s poem is a good example of the fact that most poems need more than a day to cook—at least most of my poems do!
2 Responses
April, I enjoyed the images – the clouds as rolls breaking apart, the idea of the horse grazing in the hair is so wonderful, the suddenness of things cracking and breaking when all seems normal. If you are able to post the finished poem sometime, I would enjoy that very much. Thank you for sharing, Hannah
Thank you, Hannah!