Hair Chronicles

For the semi- permed, fake natural girls Like me Who can feel the war between the new growth And those laid follicles I love the big afros I see walking around How beautiful those puffs take up all the space in the room And demand you to look at them Hair so beautiful we might not need even glance at your face Because you are your fro's keeper Now my bone with this is

I am already tied to my hair I am addicted to my ability to be "laid" today Corn rowed tomorrow or bantu knotted next week To be able to do whatever it is I want with my hair Without the routine of deep conditioning or long hours of detangling Frustrating hours with that natural beautiful hair Now what I find is that my permed hair Is wanting to cut itself off without my permission She feels so insecure By the volume around her And she thinks she needs to grab that much attention in the room when she walks in She needs to be dyed brighter so you wont miss her She is dying to be a part of the Afro-centric turn of the era That rebukes the errors of eurocentricity Those chemicals and all that electricity Used to burn our hair But I'm not ready yet Too many times for Black women Our hair is tied to our politics And micro managed to the microscopic level But childddd, when I slap that cream And I leave the Dominican salon That hang time be swinging from left to right Arie said I am not my hair Yet my hair is mine And should be a representation of me You see The war between my natural new growth and my permed hair Speaks to the stages of my growth I no longer am cool and smooth around the edges like that permed hair I am becoming rigid and rebellious I no longer give a damn about who it is If you dont love me then the coils in my new growth will escort you out And gracefully slide you down the permed hair And show you what dismissal is like I refuse to be my hair Be hang time Or be a hidden under a afro Yes I know This is how our ancestors wore their hair But my people were raped so many times I must have 3 different curls patterns 3C- "Ohh yes! Your curls are gonna be lit" 4A-"Your curls are nice" Till you reach the kitchen and you hear

"ohh your curls are gonna be tight"- 4C

Pay attention to the stratification of our hair

And the distinct gratification of the few So if my curls dont show you how many times We were raped Then I know

They will ever grab the attention in the room Nor be dyed a color you won't miss Be a full member of this Afrocentric era For now I have no category But the semi- permed, fake natural girl Who's mind will not have a string tied to her scalp Who's face will be clearly seen passed the bantu knotted curls

or whatever may have you Im just on my own hair journey