Monday 22 October 2018

On happening to watch video instructions on hairstyles irrelevant to the present situation





A Youtube clip on how to do a French twist -
I don't know why I watched it - my hair's cropped
for years now. No long plaits twirled around my wrist
into updos, no chignons, all pins dropped.
And neither the length nor the weight is missed,
the mess of herbs and rinses - all that's stopped.
Not a Samson nor, I think, a narcissist 
whose strength or beauty lay in hair that was chopped.


Yet I watch women twirl young hair into buns
without quite knowing why, and I reminisce 
minor things - lost barrettes in faux tortoiseshell.
Sundays stacked with a certain shampoo-smell.
Undoing, loosening it all, oh the bliss -
tugging it free, finally, when the day was done.





Writing it as it comes and still on target with the title-heavy teeny-tiny though I've no idea where that came from. Is it just me? Or does anyone else watch/read instructions for things they know they'll never have the least urge to do? Hairstyles, recipes, skydiving? :) 




10 comments:

  1. I plead guilty. It is part and parcel of my procrastinator ways. I frequently watch in awe as well. At the dexterity on display, and at the mind which first thought of whatever it is.

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  2. Hi Nila - I'm the opposite ... nope - if it's not necessary then I stop and move on ... probably should stop and watch sometimes!! Sounds like you're really pleased your hair is cropped ... take care - cheers Hilary

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    1. The thing is - I am. And yet I do end up watching these most intricately created hairdos :) no rhyme or reason...and not just hairdos

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  3. your long titles are intriguing. The poem made me smile. I'm not a big You Tube watcher. Maybe when I'm retired...

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    1. I wasn't a Youtube watcher till quite recently...I got lured in because of Stephen Colbert and Trevor Noah... and then one thing led to another...:)

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  4. Hari Om
    no, not really, but am sure I have other ways of losing time! Yes am still here watching everyone's blogs, but still on the one-handed typing and struggling to keep up. Starting to get the fingers on the keys again for a few minutes a day though - this has just had some input from the broken left!!! YAM XX

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    1. Good to hear that! Wish you a full and speedy recovery.

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  5. Another terrific title The poem itself reminds me of my first ex-fiancee (Yes, first! Number one in a series, collect 'em all!) When she and I dated almost forty years ago, her hair was past her waist, but years later, she got a factory job, and for safety's sake she now wears it shorter than I wear mine.

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    1. My hair was that kind of length too most of my teens and young adulthood - quite tedious taking care of it. But back then women in my culture were supposed to wear their hair long, crowning glory etc. Lots of disapproval when I chopped it off, even the hairdresser wouldn't cut it as short as I wanted it!

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