Nemesis

He had a motor-bike
And a cabinet full of trophies.
I polished them
For when he came back.

She tips the photos
On the rug.
What was grandad like
Mummy...
What was he like?

I was his favourite.
He used to brush
My long, long hair:
Raven head.

"Rapunzel, Rapunzel,
Let down your long hair!"

No bush of thorns
To break his fall:
A scrambling accident
Over the hills
And far, far away.

I was thirteen.
I learned to hate
The telephone.
He was receding.
There was not enough time.

Then one day
I had it cut off.
What have you done?
It was grandma's idea.
What have you done?

"Snip! snap!
The golden tresses fell
And covered the floor."

Mine was deep auburn.
She wove two plaits
Every morning,
Every morning,
Then elastic and ribbons
Like the photos
On the rug.

Every morning
Until my hair grew too heavy.
A well-known fact:
It causes migraines.

"Snip! snap!"
I was tricked
By her concern.

What have you done?

She grew it back
To cut it off.
There was not enough time
To grow it again.

I am shouting now
Shouting across a valley.
She can't hear me.

She is with someone waving;
Her hair is
Waving.

He had a motor-bike
And a cabinet full of trophies.
I polished them
For when he came back.