Freedom is all I want
By Marlene Elizabeth Aguirre
Thick and curly tendrils am I. Unruly and untamed. I go every which way, in every direction, she says I am endlessly frustrating. But I can’t help it. It is my nature. With fewer products I frizz up like an African lion’s mane.
Regal and poofy I see myself, but she sees me as crazy and uncontrollable. I do not wish to be controlled however. I wish to be free flowing and soft. That which I am, in my natural state. But she doesn’t approve.
On windy days, it’s always a struggle. She pushes and holds me down or hides me under hoodies. I want to blow in the wind like the luscious green leaves on the trees. But I am somehow tamed in knotty mess she thinks to be “better” for whom? Not me. I wish to be free.
When it’s sunny out I soak up all the suns steamy hot rays. I bounce in glorious ways; every step she takes springs me to life. And the compliments and envious glares flood from every person around us, I feel happy down to the root, I wish to be free, and when it’s sunny, she lets me.
On the other hand humid rainy days are a heartless battlefield of vicious combs and fingers that rake through me mercilessly. She mumbles under her breath every possible insult, upset and frustrated she gets as I absorb the water in the environment and expand. She wants me to calm down and behave. I do not wish to do so though, I just wish to be free.
When he’s around her, I get a lot of attention. She toys with my ends and flips me from side to side, incessantly. I can hear her giggle and I laugh on the inside too, he makes her happy. And I like him. He agrees with me, he likes my regal lion’s mane and the way I am naturally. He tells her to let me be free. I of course, agree.
There are sometimes, when she feels shameful and sad, she feels isolated but I never abandon her. Despite the innumerable amounts of product and sprays she has evened me out with, despite the unceasing demeaning insults and putdowns, I am here, and she is my friend. And on those cold lonely days, I help her hide her insecurities behind a curtain of thick curly hair. On these days, I am her friend, I am happy to the root, I am free.
