political hair

i went to the same barber

for the first

sixteen years

of my life,

Al, from the Philippines,

but then the world

changed.

hair became long.

i'd see my barber on

the street

and he'd say when are

you coming back,

i'd tell him when Nixon's

out of the white house.

he'd laugh.

then i'd see him at the

beginning of the summer.

when i needed

to get a job.