Just Saying…

Published on by balroop singh

I wonder why people like long tresses
Only when others wear them
I wonder when would I gather the grit
To repeat my adolescent goof

Ah! Can I forget the day I got the inspiration 
From “Maggie cuts her hair”
And told my younger sister to help me
Satiate my desire for short hair!

Thunder reverberated around me.
My sister shrugged off her role
And blamed the scissors
That wouldn’t move straight!

I was reminded of my cultural compulsion
To wear my hair unsheared.
The rebel in me scoffed it off
Promising me to do as I wished.

I waited and waited
Time did come to take my own decisions
But the longer they grew
The more I liked them.

Each time I think of cutting them short
Many words echo around me:
‘They are beautiful’… ‘They look awesome’…
‘Never shorten them’… ‘I love them’

You should see them on my pillow
How they struggle to survive each night
As I turn my head around
To find a comfortable position.

 Oh! don’t even ask how many vacuum cleaners
They have asphyxiated!
The day my sister visits
I have to sweep the kitchen floor twice!
© Balroop Singh, February 2022

Inspired from a recent discussion (in our Writer’s Group) about hair. Thanks.

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63 thoughts on “Just Saying…”

  2. Your poem is both fun and deep, Balroop. For anyone who experienced the cultural or traditional power
    over such a personal thing as the length of one’s hair, it recalls memories and feelings.

    Your hair is beautiful so I can see why you now are glad you kept it. However, we want our choices.
    Yes, I also had hair to the waist. 😊

    Miriam

    1. Oh yes Miriam, people at my workplace too would comment on why I trim them and it wasn’t permitted to put them in a clip, we had to make a bun all the time. That stirred my rebellious nature and many times I would clip them up just to show an attitude! 😀 This is a 20 year old pic!

  4. You’re beautiful and your hair – wow!
    I got them short, it’s better for me. But I love long hair like yours.

  5. Such a hair length, very rare these days.. They’re precious, and you look so beautiful with them. Laughed and loved reading your words. Such a skilful and fulfilled knit.. Bravo Balroop..!! 👍🏼😊😇👌🏼🙏🏻💕

  6. Balroop, your hair is GORGEOUS!!! I would love to have long flowing hair like that.

    My hair is long, but no where as long as yours. Lately, I’ve been wearing it a couple of inches past my shoulders, but when I let it dry naturally (rather than straightening it), it gets too bushy. For that reason, I’m thinking of getting it trimmed back to shoulder length next week. That length has always been more manageable for me.

    And I can so relate to the vacuum cleaner quip, LOL. This was such a fun post, and a fun poem!

    1. We were discussing the way hair dressers tend to cut them shorter than expected and so many times when I go for a trim, I say one inch but it’s always more than that and if you opt for steps, they go shorter and shorter; that happened last time! It was a disappointing length but now they have grown to a nice length, as last two years saved us from the whims of the hair dressers 😀 This is an old picture though, I am not that young now and they have some gray streaks now! 😊 Thank you for a lovely compliment Mae.

  8. Many women choose short hair for ease of maintaining. But then there are many who love long hair. Some cultures equate long hair with feminine traits. On the other hand, it is common to see men sporting long hair these days!

  9. Asphyxiated vacuum cleaners!. Lol. My husband loves long hair, Balroop, and mine goes short-long-short-long like a yoyo. Your long long tresses are beautiful, and wear them that way as long as you enjoy them. The good thing about cutting it… it grows back. 🙂 A fun poem.

    1. The past two years of restrictions have really helped them grow longer and now I don’t feel like trimming them. That is a 20 year old picture Diana and I love it as I look back…haha, the side effects of aging 😀Thank you for sharing your lovely thoughts, I am delighted that you enjoyed this off beat poem.

  10. What a beautiful photo of you, Balroop. It isn’t just the hair although it is stunning. Your poet’s soul is shining through. My hair has mostly been short throughout my life. My mother kept it that way when I was a young child and many thought I was a boy. I have not gone much longer than just below the shoulder. LOVE your tresses. Your sister blamed the scissors! LOL. Sweet poem.

    1. It is 20 years old photo Lisa and hair length has reduced a little as I keep playing with them plus the hair dressers are apathetic; they trim according to their own styling fundas!
      Aww… thank you so much for seeing deeply to sense the soul. Oh yes! there was such a storm when my brother saw what we had done to my hair and my sister had to save her skin. Lol! 🤗💕

    1. Love them, hate them… that’s what comes to my mind when they don’t let me sleep soundly but when some friends have a word of admiration for them… and the mental battle continues! 😀
      Thank you Robbie, I am glad you could relate to these thoughts and smile.

  13. Your hair looks beautiful, Balroop. I think long hair itself is artistic. I only had short hair for a short period of time but mostly I have long hair with different length. We do think about the hair a lot, don’t we?
    Your poem is beautiful. I enjoyed reading it. 😊

    1. I have had a love-hate relationship with my hair. So I keep changing their style since a retired. 😀 Thank you for sharing your thoughts, much appreciated.

      1. I know what you meant, Balroop. When I was working, I kept my hair at an easy to manage length. After I retired, I kept playing with different length. 😉

  16. This is great and made me smile. When I was young, I had long hair. Thick wavy long hair. I have tried to grow it out since, but I always end up cutting it again. My lifestyle is such that I cannot Or do not want to allocate that much time to caring for my hair! But yours indeed is lovely. 💇‍♀️❤️

  22. You have beautiful hair Balroop and that poem stuck a huge chord within me… I was never allowed long hair as a child, and it continued into my adult years… Only now six plus decades later do I now decide to grow my hair…. To see what it feels like with longer hair… LOL….. 😉 And so far I am enjoying those longer brush strokes.. 🙂
    Great Poem Balroop… Much love your way ❤

    1. Thank you Sue. On the contrary, children of our families had to grow their hair, which were nurtured and braided everyday… much work for mothers! We always yearn for what we don’t have… natural human instincts! 😊🤗

  23. Beautiful photo of you, Balroop. Such a wonderful and thoughtful poem with thoughts from your heart 😊 My parents didn’t really like my long hair at all when I was a kid. Most of my life I’ve had my hair long, these days more so medium length. I like it long as opposed to short as it keeps my neck and shoulders warm, and there’s just something so comforting about that. You can think about hair a lot and have so many different opinions about it, from what hair cut suits you best to hair salon horror stories 😄 Hope you are doing well, Balroop ❤

    1. Thank you Mabel, our Writer’s Group ladies were discussing hair and that’s how this poem originated; real life experiences make interesting poems! That is a 20 year old picture and now my hair are not that long yet they fall in the category of long. Talking about keeping the neck and shoulders warm, what do you think of summer months when they irritate? 😀

      1. Though that is an old photo, that is you alright – and I am sure you are equally as beautiful right now, on the inside and outside 😊 It’s summer here at the moment in Australia and it’s pretty warm. I honestly do not find long hair irritating on my neck and shoulders. I love it and don’t mind feeling sweaty. That’s just me 😄

  24. I love your poem, Balroop, and your hair is beautiful. The asphyxiated vacuum cleaners made me laugh, and I can relate between my daughter’s long hair when she lived at home and mine. I used to have shorter when I was younger, but now it reaches my shoulders with long layers and will never be short again. 🙂

  25. I imagine short hair is easier to look after, so I’ve been told. 🙂 Your poem brought a smile to my face, as I remember my sisters doing the same thing when we were kids.

  26. A wonderful poem that captures so many elements of long hair! I laughed out loud at ‘Oh! don’t even ask how many vacuum cleaners / They have asphyxiated’! A complaint I heard as young when my long hair would bring the vacuum cleaners to a moaning halt! I loved the photo of you with your beautiful tresses from 20 years ago – beautiful and dreamy! An inspired post and isn’t it great when discussions lead to creative work?!

    1. Thank you dear Annika for such lovely words. I am delighted to hear that you could relate to my thoughts. I often convert inspiring or provocative discussions into poetry. 😊🤗

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