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

Credit

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.