3. The BEST DEAL

I gave up
soaring for structure
and severed a part of me
in the deal.
At seventeen,
my father said,
“Cut your hair boy.
I'll get you a job.”
I remember the gleam …
of that
bargain-basement
blue-light-special
going off in my head …
as I twisted
his words
into something
I wanted to hear.
After graduation,
I cut my hair
and got me in that long line
longer than the
Saturday matinee …
… knowing
I had me that “pull”.
After my ninety
I grew my hair long again.
My little nose
just turned up at the world.
I've given up a lot
for structure.
Sold out
to what I believed to be
the best deal.
No telling
how far I could have gone …
… had I listened
to what my old man
wasn't saying.
© 2019, Gary Browe, All Rights Reserved