2018 Catherine and Joan Byrne Poetry Prize

Open Letter to My Brother

by Jae Clark

 

Did      you      know,
as Google tells me,
 

multi-blade         razors
cut            hair beneath
 

the skin. Smooth to bald-
ness, soft bed of              potential
 

infection, ingrowth. In short,
I bought a rotary shaver
 

and witch hazel,              to help
redness,               acne. All-
 

natural astringent, an aftershave
that won’t burn               or dry
 

my skin—it smells like                roses—
and face              lotion, too,
 

non-         comedogenic,

for ‘combination                  skin’.
 

Second puberty is a bitch
in these small ways
 

but only the small ones—

the small               injections,          rise
 

in libido,                receding hair
line, nothing          compared