A BLUE MOHAWK

In her family
they call it
the call from Colorado

the time she called from Boulder
to speak to her mother,
to say, amongst other things,

It’s just so hard to find work
when you have a blue
mohawk

It makes the mother want to
laugh, to cry
you stupid, stupid

idiot, idiot.
Instead she imagines
the daughter

walking to and fro
in the snow
looking for work

looking everywhere
for work
and being turned away.

her head twisted
a bird naked
in crested profile

Yes, she sighs,
it must be difficult
people can’t understand.

_