People from work ask me, all of us being away from home
Where do you get your hair cut?

I cut my own hair
Have done for a while

It started for the same reasons they ask
When you don't speak the local language well
You often come out with the wrong thing,
too short, long
whatever

It was after an experience like this
Getting back to the hotel, thinking to myself
Its still longer than I wanted

I picked up my beard trimmer, set it low
and shaved

It was very liberating
I felt I had broken a barrier

Independence was mine

Back at home
My wife cut it for me
Same idea, just shaved, same length
all over

I'd sit in a chair
in the kitchen
Music playing and waiting

Her fussing over the bits and pieces
cleaning the clippers
Then cutting

ZZZZzzz
ZZZZzzzzzz

It was only after we split up
I returned to the barbers

But now, here I was
I did it on my own and it looked
Right.

And it felt
Good.

It was easy, I could cope.

Now I cut my hair all the time
In the bathroom, hoovering up afterwords
Can't check the back but its usually OK

These days, though, the feeling
of liberation
is gone.

It's just something I do on my own
Another chore
Like washing the dishes
Cleaning the house
Going to Bed