While in a museum,
I examined a wreath
crocheted withstrands of human hair:
black, brown, blonde, auburn, gray.
Intricate work,
an unknown artist’s vision of beauty
and thought about my mother,
pulling strands of her heavy,
coarse, black hair
from her scalp,
threading a needle
to mend my brother’sjacket.
Hair is strong.
There are scientific reasons
that explain such tensile strength,
but I prefer the story
of my mother mending
a torn jacket with her hair,
the privilege of scientific explanation
lost in each practical stitch
and envyfor my brother
who carried strands
of her with him.
GERI MENDOZA GUTWEIN, PhD, poet, educator, and lecturer is professor emerita of English at HACC, Central Pennsylvania’s Community College where she taught English, creative writing, and Native American Literature. A Pushcart nominee, she is the author of three chapbooks: Every Orbit of the Circle, The Story She Told, and most recently An Utterance of Small Truths. Her poetry has appeared in literary journals such as Connecticut Review, Fledgling Rag, and in Roots Trunk Sky: IWWG’s Imagination and Justice Meditation-Free Writing CircleAnthology, Pasque Petals, and Scurfpea, among others. Her poetry explores the Lakota and Mexican American experience, family and cultural ties that inform a sense of self, and the significance of small moments that carry so much meaning. She lives in the sacred Black Hills of South Dakota, USA. You may visit her website at http://www.gerigutwein.com
