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.

Mark Anthony Thomas
Copyright © 2004
F rom The Poetic Repercussion

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