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This appears in a pre-2010 issue of cc&d magazine. Saddle-stitched issues are no longer printed, but you can requesting it “re-released” through amazon sale as a 6" x 9" ISBN# book! Email us for re-release to order.

blonde like me

Renee St. Louis

Are you a real blonde?
he wants to know, in tones of
accusation and arousal.
I wrap my strands, in notes of
wheat, honey and chamomile,
around my hand, trying to glimpse
this magic so often sought
by others.

What does that mean?
I ask him, in tones of
flirtation and suspicion.
He narrows his eyes, in imitation of
my mocking tone, trying to explain
a stereotype so ingrained it
seems like truth
to him.

I mean, is it natural?
he goes on, in tones of
frustration and pursuit.
I know what he means, in some of
the ways he means it, trying to make
me fit the ice queen, bimbo, bombshell,
soccer mom, or femme fatale
and failing.

What’s it take to be real?
I continue, in tones of
provocation and skepticism.
He stares so hard it burns, trying to size
up my challenge, see if he can take me
like the spoils of ideological conflict, a
war bride.

Why do you make it so hard?
he asks me now, in tones of
high dudgeon and haughteur.
I watch him leave, trying to remember
a life before the color of my hair was
mistaken for the content of my soul, when
being natural and real meant
more than simply being free
of bleach.

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