I asked my sister to cut my hair. She did fine the last time but this time she kept saying
things like, "Oh, this isn't good," and "I'm sorry!" and "I'm not a very good hair cutter"
and "maybe next time we can go to a professional".
I talked her down, (she did a terrible job but it will grow out), swept up the floor, then
went to make my breakfast.
Broke both yokes (I had wanted over easy).
Spilled the eggs onto the stove top instead of getting them onto my plate.
Found a bug in my water glass.
I had to laugh out loud, started to, and that's when I heard the voice. My sister didn't hear
it, she was back stuck into Facebook.
At first it was garbled, I thought maybe the dog had growled in her sleep. There was a
bad smell, too. Did the dog fart again?
Then, in my left ear clear as anything: WHY DID YOU THROW AWAY MY? WHY
WHY WHY and I thought, "your what?" and then I put down my plate of eggs and toast,
ran to the shower and rinsed out my hair real good.
When I went back into the kitchen there was hair everywhere, in my food, on the counter
and stovetop, on the floor I had swept. Worse, the individual hairs started to stand on end
and dance around and then fly in swirls into the air like mini hair tornadoes. Sneezing, I
grabbed the broom and opened the back door and swooshed them outside, where they
disappeared.
Next time I spill salt I will not forget to toss a little over my left shoulder. Too late this
time, but I put a little plate of food outside and laid a few flowers beside it.
I hope that appeases them!
Kyla Houbolt (she, her) occupies Catawba territory in Gastonia, NC. Her first two chapbooks, Dawn's Fool and Tuned were published in 2020. More about them on her website, https://www.kylahoubolt.com/ Her individually published pieces online can be found on her Linktree. She is on Twitter @luaz_poet.