Fish eye and I - a poem.

Cartoon fish eye and I

meet again because hair detangler

only comes for kids.

Everything for women is scented yet

L'Oreal juvenile pear smell distinct

as it wafts across the store aisle.
I no longer have a soft scalp or

a low tolerance for pain

but my hair is just as prone to break.

Brush it gently after shower then that’s it

Set it once then it's set forever

every ponytail a tale from then on

all dents are stories made obvious

from my hairdos for the last two or three days.

Is only my hair so fragile still?

Did everybody else grow out of this? 

Are I love you's and cuddles only for the young as well?

Books before bed, a helping hand for sunscreen?
Did we all grow up but some not grow out 

of showing the dents of our history

hearts on our sleeve? Or some of us just

power through and break many strands? 

Are others lucky enough to toughen with age?
My unspoken questions linger before me

Fish eye does not blink,

does not resolve my solitude

in the kids' detangler section.

--Ellen H.