At the Hair Salon in Big Sandy, Texas

31 October 2012
A warm stomach rests

on my arm. Breasts squish

against my shoulder blades.

Fingers fold back my ears,

gently but firmly lift my chin.

The clippers’ power cord

tightens against my neck,

stretches across to the outlet.

Without my glasses, my head

and shoulders in the mirror

are a blonde and black blur.

After spraying a fine mist,

the girl grips her scissors

and drawls -

You ain’t from around here,

is ya? Where y’all from?

 – Australia

Neat! Did y’all drive?

 – No, it’s a bit far. I had to fly.

You speak English real good.

Did y’all learn it in school?
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Nathanael O'Reilly

About Nathanael O'Reilly


Nathanael O’Reilly was born in Warrnambool and raised in Ballarat, Brisbane and Shepparton. He now resides in Texas. He is the author of two chapbooks, Suburban Exile: American Poems (Picaro Press, 2011) and Symptoms of Homesickness (Picaro Press, 2010) and a recipient of an Emerging Writers Grant from the Literature Board of the Australia Council. His poetry has been published in journals around the world, including Antipodes, LiNQ, Blackmail Press, Harvest, Transnational Literature, Mascara Literary Review, Windmills, Postcolonial Text, Page Seventeen, White Leaf Review, and Red River Review.



Website:
http://tcu.academia.edu/NathanaelOReilly/About

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2 Responses to At the Hair Salon in Big Sandy, Texas

  1. stuart barnes says:
    November 1, 2012 at 9:07 am

    fantastic, nat!

    Reply
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