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Monday 25 February 2019

Poetry Monday: Hair

It's Poetry Monday, and this week's topic is "hair". 

Join Delores and me as we comb through our minds, brush up on our skills, and present our "hair" poems for the world's enjoyment :)

If you'd like, you can leave a poem in the comments on either of our blogs, or post on your own blog and leave us a note in the comments so we can find  you.

*****

There's so much can be said about hair.

And a lot of it has already been said in the title song from the musical Hair (which then became a huge hit for  The Cowsills):

". . . long, straight, curly, fuzzy, snaggy, shaggy
Ratty, matty, oily, greasy, fleecy, shining, gleaming
Streaming, flaxen, waxen, knotted, polka dotted
Twisted, beaded, braided, powdered, flowered and confettied
Bangled, tangled, spangled and spaghettied . . ."

So what is there possibly left to say about hair?

I've written before about my own hair and my struggle to find a hairstylist who can cut it to my liking. Those posts are here and here.

Things have improved somewhat on the haircut front, and I hate to rock the boat for fear of making them worse again, so I'm pretty much just getting the same cut over and over, and trying to be thankful I have hair at all, because I don't have the face to successfully shave my head. Also, I am very, very grateful that my life is so easy that a haircut is the hardest choice I have to make.

*****

Half-Resigned To My Awful Fate

Do I care
If my hair
Is not quite
What I like?

Yes I do
And I rue
When my cuts
Drive me nuts

Do I swear
Do I glare
Do I flare
Oh BEWARE

. . . Ah, but still
It's a thrill
That my hair
Is still there . . .


But Lizzie, too, is trying to be a big girl about it.



*****

Over to you, Delores, for a new topic, which I will post when it has been finalized.

Wishing you a good week, everyone.


Update:  Next week's topic is DISTANCE . . . thank you Delores :)



48 comments:

Anonymous said...

I didn't know Hair was Cowsills number. I feel an urge to listen to it now. To my bedroom and the tablet, lest I disturb someone else.

River said...

I've given up on haircuts altogether and am letting it grow out as long as it wants, which isn't very long, but at least I can tie it back out of the way when I need to. I just got fed up with paying someone to snip a million tiny bits of hair down into my neck and into my clothes. The scratching and itching would drive me crazy all the way home where I would immediately shower to get them all off, then have to wash my clothes too of course.

dinthebeast said...

Your poem reminds me a little of George Carlin's hair poem:

"Now that I've shared
This affair of the hair
I think I'll repair
To my lair
And use Nair
Do you care?"

That's the best I can do off of the top of my head, so to speak...

I've had long hair for my entire adult life, with one cut up above the collar back in '84 when we moved to Oakland and I thought it might help me get a job.
Turned out it didn't much matter for the sort of jobs I wanted anyway, so I still have it, although there's not nearly as much of it as there used to be, and a lot of it is turning white.

-Doug in Oakland

Charlotte (MotherOwl) said...

The musical, and indeed that very tune was also the first thing to enter my mind. Albeit my lines were: "Grow it down to there-hair, shoulder length or longer ... let it flow in the breeze and get caught in the trees, make a home for the bees in my hair" (cited as I remember them). I have always loved my Hair long.

Charlotte (MotherOwl) said...

PS, i like your poem, it describes exactly what my thougths were last time I actually had it cut.

Marie Smith said...

Lol. Hair for women is often an issue it seems. My biggest issue is with winter hats and how they destroy a style. Then again they cover a lot of issues too.

Joanne Noragon said...

Hair, haha. It never is what I want until it's hanging in my eyes, but otherwise perfect. So I tell Melanie, cut it just like it is. And then another month of grumbling about it.

only slightly confused said...

Yes indeed, it is a blessing to still have hair. Not that I have that much of it you understand but still......next weeks theme.....are you ready for this.....DISTANCE.

Red said...

You did manage to say something about hair that makes us have a look and think a bit.

Starting Over, Accepting Changes - Maybe said...

Women care about their hair more than anything else about their body. Your poem rings true for many of us. There were so many times that I drove home quickly from the hairdressers and ran into the bathroom trying to fix it before anyone saw me. Now I have a great hairdresser who remarkably can make my ever-thinking hair look like it did ten years ago. If only I could find someone who could that to my face.

37paddington said...

Oh, it's been a hair drama week for me, so I definitely relate. And I didnt think there was another person in the world other than me who had ever heard of the Cowsills. Whaaat?

Susan said...

Oh dear, I was just thinking the same thing this morning. My stylist is a lovely young woman but I think she has about six cuts in her repertoire and if you want something else you are out of luck.

Joan (Devon) said...

Hello Jenny, short and sweet and to the point, which I like. I wish mine were shorter, but I seem to go all around the houses to get my point across. Oh hum!

My tendering this week is along similar lines.

Hair

Wild and untamed?
Or neat and sleek?
What is your hair type?
I'll be the first to speak.

My hair was thick and wavy,
And chose its own style,
But trying to control it?
Well, you have to smile.

The hours that I've spent,
Battling with my mane,
However I styled it,
It would spring back again.

I despaired of ever looking
Like a fashionable teen,
Clothes? Yes! Make-up? Yes!,
Hair? Just had to be seen.

So, as it is,
My mane still covers my crown,
Growing outwards and upwards,
Instead of straight down.

My hair used to annoy and embarass me when I was a teenager because I could never get it in the latest style. From my twenties on I've been happy with it even though it always goes whichever way it wants to and that's because I don't have to worry about getting it styled or 'set', using rollers or tongs etc. My hair needs little attention and I am only too pleased about that.

See you next week. Take care.

Diane Henders said...

Oh dear, poor Lizzie! It sounds as though you have a healthy attitude about your hair, even if it does drive you nuts sometimes. Fingers crossed that your stylist keeps doing what you like(ish). ;-)

jenny_o said...

According to Wikipedia, Hair was a hit for the Cowsills the year after the musical. But I only ever associated the song with the group because I never saw the musical in any form. I shouldn't have been surprised to learn the song was from the musical (because Duh) but I was :)

jenny_o said...

Yes, ugh to all the scratchy bits of hair! Your solution sounds like heaven, actually :)

jenny_o said...

There's definitely a "hair code" for some jobs. I work in one of those offices :)

I remember Nair! I'd never use it on my head, though - lol

jenny_o said...

Yes, those are the best known lines, aren't they? It's such a catchy tune!

Anyone wanting to read Uglemor's poem on hair can just click on that link (Hair) in the comment. It's a good one!

jenny_o said...

Hah! You're so right, Marie! That's another reason I've kept this same style - it's okay with or without a winter hat, which is quite important when I'm going to work.

jenny_o said...

Oh, I know! When my hair was short it was perfect for about four days between cuts. The rest of the time it was too short or too long :)

jenny_o said...

DISTANCE . . . sounds like payback to me! lol

Thanks, D :)

jenny_o said...

We all have it, or had it, right? So it's easy to relate :)

jenny_o said...

And if you do, please let me know! I have to use a magnifying mirror for some things now, and it's not good for my self-esteem I can tell you :)

I'm glad you have a great hairdresser - a good hairstyle really does make a difference to how we feel about ourselves, doesn't it?

jenny_o said...

The Cowsills - yes, they were big here! Isn't that funny!

Your hair always looks good, Angella - professional and becoming. You don't need to worry.

jenny_o said...

Yes, this :) I suppose it's like any other job, some have more aptitude than others, and therefore a better range of styles to offer.

jenny_o said...

I think when we stop fighting our natural hair type, things go a lot better! Thank you for taking part again, Joan. It's good to see you back. Did you get moved?

jenny_o said...

In private my attitude isn't all that good, actually. In public I have to be better than a four-year-old - lol

John M said...

Nice poem, I hope my hair stays around for a long time.

Joan (Devon) said...

Moved? I think you're mixing me up with someone else Jenny. We moved back to Devon from Wales over 18 months ago.

Diane Henders said...

This whole "adulting" thing kinda sucks, doesn't it? ;-)

jenny_o said...

Heh heh :)

jenny_o said...

If it's still around now, it probably will be!

jenny_o said...

I knew it was awhile ago, but I really must have lost track of time if it was that long ago! Sorry :)

Martha said...

HAHA! Cute and funny post for today. Like you, I tend to stick to the same style over and over again. Don't fix what ain't broken!

jenny_o said...

It was just taking too much energy to keep trying for something that's not going to happen (not with my current stylist anyhow) . . . it wasn't worth getting my hopes up and then getting worked up when it didn't pan out! lol

baili said...

i am not experimental with my hair dear Jenny and will you believe that i hardly make my eyebrows

i know this sounds so boring when specially people around you are so curious about adopting latest styles in looks and dressing

i have one of most rough kind of hair and my ignorance make them even worse :)

I so much loved your poem

perfect display of expression with such brevity ,really excellent Jenny!

keep short yet substantial is something i must learn from you !

please take great care and stay smiling :)

hugs!

jenny_o said...

But your hair is beautiful just as it is, baili! Truly, you don't need to do anything different.

Sometimes a short poem is good, and sometimes a long one is good. It all depends, doesn't it? :)

Hug to you, too, my dear friend.

kylie said...

we could all write a similar story about hair and hair dressers, I think! only it was a poem, not a story...

my hair is a wild mane which I kind of like ( i also like to sleep and not to spend money which may be factors in my wild hair)
my office mate who wears her hair an inch long so it can't possible get out of place walked in recently and said "my hair is looking wild today" Gawd, what does that make mine? you gotta laugh, right?

Steve Reed said...

Here's my entry:

My hair
Is not there.

Steve Reed said...

I have the Cowsills on my iTunes!

Steve Reed said...

OK, I have to confess that I wrote my comment before reading your poem, and now I see that you already used the "hair/there" rhyming scheme, which makes me appear quite derivative and not nearly as clever. LOL!

jenny_o said...

LOL!! We are all so hard on ourselves, aren't we? I love your hair, by the way. I think it's gorgeous!

jenny_o said...

Can't get much shorter a poem than that! lol

jenny_o said...

LOL! I'm sure neither of us is the first to use those two words as rhymes!!

Cherie said...

If I dared I'd wear my hair
In a style that'd really make folk stare
I'd dye it purple, pink and green
I'd be the oddest sight you've seen.
But sadly I am way too old
To ever wear a style so bold


jenny_o said...

You're never too old, Cherie! I've seen some older women with hair dyed in really bright colours and they pull it off - why not you? Great poem! Thanks for contributing :)

Mr. Shife said...

Ahhhhh. I just lost my comment. Let's see if I can remember.
I got a nice chuckle seeing Lizzie's hair and your poem about hair made me laugh. All-in-all a good visit. Not that swinging by your blog is ever bad but today was a double chuckle so I had to share.

jenny_o said...

Lizzie doesn't look too happy but I think she's pretty cute :)

Thanks for persisting when your first comment got lost. I know that feeling!