Drifting, PA
we’re midway through the haircut
when we start talking about local ownership
how a big company bought the hair salon
after the owner decided to cash in and retire
I refer to Regis as the “Walmart of hair”
she says she hasn’t been in a Walmart in 15 years
just like that, we’re allies, spilling our war stories
crouched down quietly behind the barricades
making our sotto voce confessions
she grew up in Drifting, Pennsylvania
though she’s tried to do what the name suggests
she keeps finding her way back to rural PA
she likes the woods, likes to garden
doesn’t like football, which in this part of the world
is like being an apostate in Vatican City
she has a pastoral scene tattooed in a heart
running from her wrist to her elbow
on the other arm, a tree grows from her wrist
roots tangled among the veins, the trunk
running up her forearm to a full crown of leaves
a reminder that enlightened people can grow in any soil
6 September 2013
State College PA
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