Reinvention?
Posted: 23 May 2004
Word Count: 107
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It’s time, she says
to concede
to gracefully bow
to the inevitable.
She cares and tries
to break it gently -
that my adherence is -
with all due respect
a mockery.
Spring is here -
summer beckoning -
time for change -
time for acknowledging.
Burn wood –
dead and useless -
start anew
go for sassy
go girl,
go!
She has my best at heart
only looking out for me afterall -
doesn’t want to see me
fall.
And so the bullet is waiting
to be bitten,
memories of Samson echoing
as I hand my follicle fate
into the brutal hands
of Cruella, the hairdresser.
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Comments by other Members
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 roovacrag at 20:31 on 23 May 2004
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Red
When people have beautiful hair it should never be shorn.Let others admire your beauty, as you can always cut it off later, in your 60s. Great poem, shame that you decided to cut one of your amazing attributes.
xxStan
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The Walrus at 20:36 on 23 May 2004
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Thanks Stan, you're nature's answer to Prozac lol. Won't go down without a fight lol.
Thanks,
Red
x
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 joanie at 22:35 on 23 May 2004
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How did you react? Was she right? Did you regret it?
This is very real to me at the moment, because I keep wondering .. short, or keep it long?? ... Good one!
joanie
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tinyclanger at 23:04 on 23 May 2004
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Go for it! Mine's about an inch long all over. Slap on some wax, spike it up, shades on, and growl at everyone!
Great evocation of those moment of indecision, though, and a skillful building of tension/questioning in the reader.
x
tc
<Added>
And, from the title onwards, a telling metaphor - how the simple style of one's hair can change image and, crucially, self-image. Just another way of labelling ourselves, perhaps?
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 Nell at 07:09 on 24 May 2004
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Hi Walrus, I know the feeling so well. I've been mutilated so many times that I've cut my own hair for the last fifteen years. Once I was even given a helmet style with a line of white skin showing all around the centre of the back - I had to use eyebrow pencil on it for a week or more afterwards! I like the way the poem builds up towards the answer. Once they get those scissors in their hands...
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The Walrus at 09:31 on 24 May 2004
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Thanks guys for your really interesting views!
Joanie, haven't actually gone for the chop yet, as to whether she (my beloved sister) is right, who knows? I've always long hair and I find the prospect of having it cut daunting to the say the least. (I seem to remember the one time I did have it cut really short was when I was about 10 and the postman mistook me for a boy. I hold him entirely responsible for the subsequent therapy bills). I think the bottom line is one has to do whatever one feels is right for them.
TC you are soo brave! Bet it looks great! Your added comment is right, self-image - how we see ourselves. Have always admired Madonna more as a role model for reinvention rather than her music lol.
Nell, scarey experience! Did you sue?! lol
Thanks again guys, will postpone the shearing for now and possibly forever.
The Walrus
x
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miffle at 10:30 on 24 May 2004
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Walrus, great piece! Yes, as TC points out you perfectly evoke the tension of 'shall I/ shan't I' - 'Oh, such hair-dilemnas!' :-)...
And the last line is great - perhaps you will end up with a black bob + white streak and take to wearing dalmation skin !? So, yes, I'd give 'Cruella' a miss, I think!
Found the relationship between the speaker and the sister (?)/ hairdresser perhaps the most interesting aspect of this piece:
'she has my best interests at heart
only looking out for me afterall -
doesn't want to see me
fall'
Did like the way that the tone of this poem, to me, seemed ambiguous...
Striking off on a slightly different tack - I do like the idea of a hairdresser exacting revenge with her scissors!!
Yes, hair, the first place most of us go for 'reinvention'... When I didn't want to teach anymore I had this idea of getting my hair cut and asking for a style so wacky that no headteacher in their right mind would ever let through the gates of their school!! Actually, I just stopped, no drama!
Write on, Miffle
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word`s worth at 11:33 on 24 May 2004
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Christina, I'm so glad I'm not alone in this! I long to have sassy, adventurous haircuts but I'm terrified of handing my locks over to a hairdresser (especially the fringe/front part of face - if they ruin that - that's it...I won't ever appear in public again until it's grown out). So when I do go to the hairdresser - it's the usual...just get the split ends off please...and even then the hairdresser is terrified to cut too much off. :D
Enjoyed reading this (and the comments!) - I don't feel so alone now! :)
Nahed x
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The Walrus at 12:23 on 24 May 2004
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Miffle, black bob and white streak! Lol - scarey stuff! Interesting you picked up on the relationship between speaker/sister. My older sister went for the chop last year and has been press-ganging me ever since to do the same (not sure whether I'm more terrified of her or the hairdresser lol). Like the wacky hair-style idea to avoid employment - when I'm feeling particularly rebellious I don my 'Medusa - Tribute To Glastonbury' hair-do ('Weird Hair Day'). Shame you didn't follow it through - it would have been worth it for shock/entertainment value lol.
Glad you're in the same boat Nahed, how reassuring. Am also glad to hear that your hairdresser actually listens to you. All the ones I have been to, without exception, completely ignore my requests for 'just a trim' and gratutiously hack away. It is indeed a sadistic business to be in. Talking of fringes reminded me of another childhood incident... I remember thinking that my fringe needed cutting for the school photo and so begged my mother to cut it. She was very busy at the time and so couldn't. So I decided to have a go at it myself. Problem was I couldn't get the blasted thing straight, so kept hacking away until all that remained was this weird tufty creation protruding from my forehead. I was completely devastated... this psychologically-scarring incident is now preserved for posterity in a school photo hanging on my wall.
TC, what can I say? You're right, I certainly am guilty as charged - complete wimp lol and remain in awe in the face your courage lol.
Glad this struck a chord guys.... arrrghhh... the trials and tribulations of being a woman lol.
The Walrus
x
PS have decided the title deserves a question mark.
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Lawrenco at 12:02 on 26 May 2004
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Excitement,trepidition and sadism.
I was expecting much worse,but it ended up ,with just hair.
In Dalston,N.E. London ,there is a "It will grow back."There actually advertising sadism.
Great comic effect here,the element of surprise was good.
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The Walrus at 08:49 on 27 May 2004
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Just hair? just hair? Patrick - how could you possibly say that! Oh, sorry, forgot your a bloke lol.
Thanks for your comment, apprecited as always.
Red
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The Walrus at 16:18 on 28 May 2004
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Thanks for the link - interesting read - beautiful pics too.
The Walrus
btw haven't had it chopped yet... am postponing decision for the foreseable future.
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gard at 01:15 on 30 May 2004
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Hi Walrus
fun piece. I on the other hand may have the opposite view as I always make my other half get his hair cut! infact I cut his hair last time ( he would not go to the Barber) and I gave him a crew cut..it looks OK though..he like it ha ha!
G
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The Walrus at 08:57 on 30 May 2004
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Hi Gard, what a good idea! Coerce other people into getting their hair cut! Brilliant!
Thanks for your comment.
The Walrus
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