The shirt was not hair. I was.
Chewed. And left
for death
in the middle of a road.
Crossed. Gnarled.
And gnatted.
Until the wind broke
through. And against me.
My wishes:
wished and washed.
Discarded by the locks.
Plait one.
Pearl two.
They hate me
because I am beautiful
ly vacant.
*Sigh*
Hold me
to your ear.
And listen for the coming
of the crows.

—
A.J. Huffman has published five solo chapbooks and one joint chapbook through various small presses. Her sixth solo chapbook will be published in October by Writing Knights Press. She is a Pushcart Prize nominee, and the winner of the 2012 Promise of Light Haiku Contest. Her poetry, fiction, and haiku have appeared in hundreds of national and international journals, including Labletter, The James Dickey Review, Bone Orchard, EgoPHobia, Kritya, and Offerta Speciale, in which her work appeared in both English and Italian translation. She is also the founding editor of Kind of a Hurricane Press. http://www.kindofahurricanepress.com