vanity hair

until he let
it go white,
finally at fifty
coming to his
senses,
and cut it short,
for years
his hair was oiled
down and black.
like an exxon
ship run aground
across
his scalp.
sometimes you'd
see the little
black tears
of dye
dripping down
his temples,
around his ears.
it wasn't a good
look up
close, but from
a distance it
shaved off,
at least
half a year.