I spend so much of my days
combing and braiding, I’m not sure
if I’m in Heaven or Purgatory.
The stream of pleas from teenage
drama queens is as endless as time.
They worry about backstabbing friends,
but when I was their age, I was dragged
through the streets naked and stabbed
through the throat. Try being popular
when your body has covered itself
in hair and any boy who liked you
(even if they were the worst)
has been blinded. My head
is on display in a case in Rome,
perpetually grounded, but please
go on about your inability to match
your eye shadow to your shirt. At least
I have my lamb to keep me company,
although I often lose her in the clouds,
or find her with the Virgin Mary,
who teases me with “Who
has a little lamb now?” Through all this,
my hair still grows. May it one day cover us all.
From The Night Is What It Eats (Codhill Press, 2026). Copyright © 2026 Danielle Hanson. Reprinted with the permission of the author.