In This Shop.

Status means nothing

and it falls voluntarily like

the hair to the
ground— least it should.

in this shop— the barber shop

where we can share

unrestrained uncontained
thoughts

without being judged

convicted and
tagged confused— in a nation so quick too

I grow here

i realize my place & connect in a

familiar space while shaving my face
of the blue eyes and blond hair
any of my successes could indict me of being.

and in this place—

which celebrates the luxuries
of being what we are

not what happened

to us not how the media
portrays us not the fathers
who fathered us

but what we aspire us to be

and how little things, done subconsciously

like conversation
like connectivity
like consolation

and a haircut— could mean so much.

By Mark Anthony Thomas