Arching or waxing
for definition an’ perfection
An artistic rejection
of the female brow too
bushy or in
single
file
line
to fit the societal
construct of
beauty’s profile
Now, brows, I pine for your
reappearance
I prepared for thinning
hair, buzzing
an’ cutting
to reveal
the perfect roundness
of my head
And I was gleeful, relieved,
not to wax for heaven sakes
but if I had my
druthers, eyebrows,
you would
come back! so much’s
at stake.
How perplexing
that you have
left the landscape
of my face
Return, return before my
forehead burns
from the scorching heat
of glares
It is not that I care
that they stare
but that you dared
to leave me
an alien in the midst of
the rest of
the browed human race
I welcome you back, no
threading, I swear
Until you do, my loves, I am forced
to draw awkward
portraits of you
Perhaps I’ll get you tattooed
but wait– are my eyelashes leaving, too?
Andrea Murphy is a fifteen year educator, who is currently on hiatus. She has taught English at both high school and community college. During this hiatus, she has decided to focus on her passion for creative writing and is developing as an emerging poet in the St. Mary’s of California MFA program. If asked what she plans to do with her degree, she would tell you that she intends to enjoy it. She loves the lyrical expression of language and has made it her primary intention of study as she writes about family, legacy, illness, and blackness from a “womanist” perspective. You can reach her on Twitter at @andream79107526.