The housekeeper at Fairfield Inn
swims in her hair.
She pulls it back in a plastic clip
and walks home by the river on
Friday nights to watch the fireworks.
Her mother kicked her out of the house
when she was just 18.
She didn’t have no degree!
Shoot, she couldn’t sew a button
on a shoe if she had to!
A leftover cinnamon bread
waits in a styrofoam box.
Her hair grows as she talks.
She walked into a place one day
and had her hair cut off at her back.
She just got tired of folding herself up
so she could rest on a couch.
Back when her hair caught her ankles,
her son would have graduated high school
if it took him every bit of 51 years!
These days, he lays floor in New Mexico,
had to hire 2 more guys to keep up!
The housekeeper at Fairfield Inn
swims in her hair
The tail swings back and forth
in ticks and tocks.
She marks her time in locks.