MY HAIR

By Marina Alefosio 05 June 2016, 12:00AM

My hair speaks in volumes just like me

an unpredictable afro that can represent

afrocentricity

but it’s a Polynesian parcel

passed down through ancestry

 

Skipped my older brother

my little sis

and awarded itself

to my little brother Ben and me

 

I don’t need hair extensions

My hair is an extension of my personality

it keeps me grounded

to be without it

would mean to defy gravity

 

because if I chopped it off

then I would lift off

in the sky like a hot air balloon

so I need to keep this hot hair on my head

and pass it on like a heirloom

 

It’s a storyteller just like me

my hair blabbers on and on about its moods

when I’m ecstatic the curls become static

and when its tied up, I’m tied up

needing chemical and edible food

 

If ever I get ashamed of it

and straighten it

the rain will surely remind me who I am

the frizz will reappear

the aff will expand

putting shame on the GHD brand

 

But my trick is to leave in conditioner

like I haven’t been conditioned enough

I’m trying to please societies needs

but then I break every hair tie and brush

 

the critics

they mock

they blow dry

they tease

telling me to replace it with wigs and weaves

like I was born of copycat breed

that’s like telling a bush to pull out its own weeds

 

The body of my hair

is like the body of mine

that’s why they’re a perfect match

the curls are my curves

the bounce are my hips

and that’s why it could never be detached

My hair speaks in volumes just like me

an unpredictable afro that can represent afrocentricity

but it’s a Polynesian parcel passed down through ancestry A crown of culture embedded in my head

that I will forever wear proudly

By Marina Alefosio 05 June 2016, 12:00AM
Samoa Observer

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