haircut

no work today, no busses, no trains.
sleep late, it is a luxury and a comfort.
Hear the son get his bags together for school.
run down the stairs and slam the door.
Run.

Get up lazy man take a shower, wash the hair-
date at the barbers, appointment at nine.
Hiss on the right, tinnitus noise, cannot find the watch.
put on the shoes, take the wallet from the small wall cabinet,
there is the watch, on the table in the hallway.

put on the waxed brown jacket, the old brown shoes,
down the stairs to the street, leave the house behind.
and around the corner to the hairdressers.

one of the girls takes the coat, hangs it on the rail
shows the way to a chair.

Black cape, discuss the length, get up again, wash basin.

and she massages the head, down to the scalp.
a luxury,

and then back, and the scissors come from the holster, snip and snap, little buzz machine to trim the edges.

Watch the shop owner in the mirror as she replaces one of the many fluorescent tubes, which had gone dim and yellow with age and then failed completely.

Close the eyes and those monster eyebrows that have taken two months to grow
are down to reasonable size.

Mirror the back of the neck looks nice now, the wild sideburns have gone now.

No gel, no wax, that is for young people

and pay at the door, and leave the change in the piggy bank, a small personal thank you, even though their prices have gone up.