Wednesday 29 September 2010

Locked off (Dear Locks)




Locked off (Dear Locks…)

Proceeding with one two three,
Into darkness of uncertainties…

Dear Locks,

You will be dearly missed
Cutting you off was the last thing
I would ever do.
What you meant to me…
Where do I begin.

Since I was seven,
I wanted long hair
My Mother said no
To cornrows, funky dreads
And anything over an inch!
I used to flinch
At going to the barbers
Thinking they were
Cutting a life form away,
Apart of me alive

So
I celebrated my manhood and freedom
and grew my locks,
You reminded me
Of small little maggots to begin with,
Comb twist.

Months grew into years
And you were already shoulder length.
Thick brown and beautiful:
A symbol of strength, determination and
Perseverance.

This look I had was so unique,
apart of me,
I deemed it unimaginable to be parted away from you.
You were like my first and everlasting true love
Because you helped me identify, myself.
You were there through thick and thin.
Only to realise it was only for a season
Where uniqueness is truly and always,
Residing in the heart.

But it’s hard:
As I watched
The blades embraced
And cut you into two, apart.
I can hear you screaming,
Colour-blind as though I were
Watching a black and white film
Day dreaming a nightmare.

Then a humming bird
Whispered in my left ear
‘I am not my hair’, (India Aries)
Making my heart break the day like the sunshine.
So removing you would be like moving the clouds away
Yet I would still like it to rain.


Were we secret lovers having an affair in broad day light?
Tell me, we are not breaking away
Yet, its so evident that we have grown apart.
Proceeding with four, five, six, seven, eight
Its too late,
As you fall like duck feather on the floor.

Self reflection.
Of embracing the new,
Staring like a child unsure
Of what to do.
Dark brown nappy fluff
Candy floss
Exploring the lightness

A new look and freedom.
Cold sharp slick razor
Glides smoothly across
The Atlas of my head
Sheering away the wheats
To reveal dry ground.

A new look and freedom.
What an exploration,
The Liberation.
Of not being caged
Into an appearance
But a living soul,
A fresh wind beautifully packaged within.


Shaun Gordon aka Donusho
07/08/2010 ©

24 comments:

  1. Donusho, what a creative poem! Read it then watched the video. You are not your hair. (India Arie's amazing) The freedom you felt after makes me happy for you. cheers

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  2. oh man dude i might have cried...used to have long hair and remember the day i cut it well...perhaps it was a love affair...nice write...enjoyed the vid as well...happy one shot!

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  3. Wow! That was a journey and a story..the story of your hair. Cool, especially for a guy. At least in the telling. Women always have the tale of their hair, grade school, jr.high, high school, getting married, having babies, p.t.a. meetings, back to work...always we worry about the hair do, does it say what it needs to say, does it look good and yet accommodate a veil, a baby pulling on it (or worse) does it look business like and yet alluring (if need be); but you gave us a picture of a boy going thru his rite of passage. Boy to man; man growing hair; identifying as artist; then finding his true identity within; and shearing the lover, the protector of his head (and to an extent his heart). Great one shot here. Loved it! Gay @beachanny

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  4. Thank you all very much for your comments.

    @Dustus, I am glad that you can share in my freedom buddy.(smile)

    @Miller, Trust me, i nearly cried but it just had to be done. (smile)

    @Gay, I believe us men go through it but refuse to talk so openly about it. Especially in this day and age where how we look is more important than the actual content. Glad i could be apart of a 'revelation' (smile).

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  5. Oh Shaun, this is absolutely stunning. So intimate, so deep, so self-understood and courageous. Letting go of one's identity only to realize, it's not in your hair, your clothes, your job or the the things you own, but in your heart. I love how you describe what the hair symbolizes, and how you describe the hair at different stages - I could feel those fuzzy crisp 'worms' and roll them in my fingers - it was lovely. And then when you got to "the Atlas of my head" I felt the freedom, the masculinity of the grown man, proud and unafraid. I hope one day you have a son who reads this. It is touching, wonderful and beautiful.

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  6. The freedom to be and look like one feels it must be
    Amazing

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  7. this is great writing about a very significant life long journey.

    wow!

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  8. @Everyday Goddess, a long journey it was 6years worth of locks, i dont think all my friends and family really believe i have cut my hair..Thank you for your comments, really appreciated.

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  9. @Dulce, i coulnt agree with you more - i free like an eagle soaring in the sky!! Thank you for your comments - very much appreciated.

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  10. @Brokenpenwriter, Thank you very much for your comment - at matter of fact, I feel speechless and humble from your comment above. I am exceeding glad that you enjoyed it and really immerse yourself in the words and shared your understanding of my poem. As repetitive and insignifant as it might sound - Thank you very very much. This is very encouraging to me. (BIG SMILE + HUGS)

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  11. hey man...was wondering if you would be interested in stepping into the monday spotlight over at One Shot...

    if so drop me an email... btm2007@yahoo.com

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  12. oh how cool is this - but i understand it wasn't easy - loved the rhythm - and yes - you are not your hair - enjoy the liberation!

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  13. Wonderful...one word.



    ॐ नमः शिवाय
    Om Namah Shivaya
    Twitter: @VerseEveryDay
    Blog: http://shadowdancingwithmind.blogspot.com

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  14. I just came back to let you that I gave you one of my weekly awards, which you can collect anytime!

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  15. @Everyday Godess, Thank you very much for the award. Now... i am going to ask a stupid question: how do i collect it?

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  16. @Shashi, thank you very much.

    @Claudia, yes, it was very hard. You know, we all go through times when we have to make some tough decisions and this was certainly one them.

    Thank you both for commenting. :)

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  17. @Brian Miller, I would be honoured (i feel really humbled by this) I will drop you an email right away. Thanks.

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  18. hi,
    you can click on the spinning sun which takes you to photobucket.
    you copy the html code on the left side of your screen, scroll down until you find it.
    open an html gadget on your design page.
    paste in the html code.
    it should work.
    let me know if you have trouble.
    elisehingson@gmail.com

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  19. Beautiful writing, nicely done.
    Love it :)
    Warmly
    Marinela

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  20. @Marinela, thank you for your comments - much appreciated. (big smile)

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  21. Oh my God ... I'm in love with your fantastic language in this peice ... it's so charming you told the story without losing me on the way... I always think narrating a story in a poem is hard but you did it very very NICE.

    Thank you for sharing (with me)
    S.

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  22. Sharp noir, where have you been? i am glad you liked this piece and i didnt lose you along the way. it been my pleasure sharing this with you!!

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