Kyleigh Graham

ONE OF THESE DAYS, I HOPE SOMETHING BEAUTIFUL WILL TAKE ROOT

I flattened my curls —
To assimilate to the species of American Girl.

Something inside was sliced.
A spice esteemed overseas felt impelled to water-down, self-sacrifice.

My bulletin board is immortalized—
A shrine to a sprightly specimen who has grown extinct.

A feminine fossil who once led her peers in song atop double-decker buses.
And tossed toffee to strangers on the tube.

I have never felt at home—
Birds build nests in foreign lands.

My ballpoint pen worth ten years of toil just ran out of ink,
So, I washed my hair.