A Full Head of Hair
is the only thing
my mother’s father
ever left me
a family inheritance
from a cowardly lion
not black & white
pictures of welts
on my young dead
grandmother’s mother
not the courage
to raise small children
who needed a father
more than empty beer bottles
once filled up to their necks
with family secrets
just this full head of hair
& freckles that glow brighter
in the sunlight
he left me just enough
to make my own future
up as i go along
in uncertain times
but i’ve never hit a woman
or left a small child
standing alone in the rain
waiting for her hand
to be cupped
by a friendly policeman
knowing that her mother
would never be
coming back again.
About the Author: John Dorsey is the former Poet Laureate of Belle, MO. He is the author of several collections of poetry, including Which Way to the River: Selected Poems: 2016-2020 (OAC Books, 2020), Pocatello Wildflower, (Crisis Chronicles Press, 2023), and 100 Mornings, (Sacred Parasite, 2025)
Image Credit: Marion Post Wolcott “Untitled photo, possibly related to: Miners often give haircuts on front porch. The “Patch,” Chaplin, West Virginia” Public domain image courtesy of The Library of Congress
As It Ought To Be 