Hair on Fire

7 x 3 x 2

stoneware paperclay, underglazes, glazes

2024

private collection

I got my haircut today

it took less time 

than having my car washed

I went to one of those quick cut places 

The kind you can just walk in 

It’s a dice roll on who you get.

I usually go to a fancy salon 

where it takes hours for a cut

and you wait a month for an appointment. 

There’s cool music playing 

and they serve you fancy hot tea

This was not that kind of place. 

And it’s not that kind of haircut.

A little lopsided, 

not a whole lot of attention to detail

But you know what?

You know what I won’t do?

I might not go there again*

But I also won’t go online and give them a bad review 

or go back and complain and ask for my money back

Or worse yet: ask them to fix it.

Because I got what I paid for:

A quick, cheap hair cut

with very little chit-chat.

My hair will grow out 

and next time I’ll plan ahead

But what I realized while I was sitting in that salon chair

I was getting my hair cut by someone 

who probably wished 

she was someplace else 

doing something else.