clump

lustrous hair--it was shiny, then i
pushed out                                                        hormones along with the placenta, looking down
clogs of my nests in the drain.        oh my, the frizz.         nothing helps,
cocoa, shea, avocado, argan. a husk, sometimes.                               a fistful, more times.
maiden, mother, queen, crone.     [the first morning i tried running again
my pelvis spiraled away from me, a frisbee to the grass.] my
hair cinched back, elastic,              still dripping wet from the quick shower. swoosh swoosh.
in between nursing. look down: a long lock, coiled copperhead,             on the glistening concrete.
another part to discard, old and illustrious. dewy. mare thin. the space in between follicles and pores.
fields. apart.           past the jogging route: a billboard for PANTENE PRO V.                    and I’m
back in middle school, puberty raged, steaming straightener, watching the shoulder length waterfall run slick
down my
vertebrae.

Megan Mizanty is an interdisciplinary artist and educator. She recently served as Assistant Director of the MFA Program at Wilson College, as well as Associate Professor of Dance. Her writing has been published in Danse Macabre Literary Magazine, Research in Dance Education, Zoetic Press/Nonbinary Review, Last Stanza Poetry Journal, iō Literary Journal, Mignolo Arts, and more. www.mizantymoves.com