Barbie Chang Got Her Hair Done
Barbie Chang got her hair done for
     the school auction
she was afraid sick of the Circle since
     she heard of their
shopping for matching dresses so out
     of the nest she flew
into the auction thinking she could
     outmaneuver her
loneliness thinking she could overcome
     being classified thinking
she could be an agent of her own
     classification in came
the Circle dunk tossing coins at baskets
     one in pink one in
green one in orange one in purple
     matching floral
barrettes glowing like a rainbow that
     seemed low enough
to reach to touch Barbie Chang would
     never admit it but
she still wanted the rainbow to rain on
     her to wear bows in her
hair that meant she belonged somewhere
     else she owed it to
her children to make friends to blend
     into the dead end
From Barbie Chang (Copper Canyon Press, 2017). Copyright © 2017 by Victoria Chang. Used by permission of The Permissions Company, Inc., on behalf of Copper Canyon Press, www.coppercanyonpress.org.