Some lament their long-gone hair<\/p>\n
When chemo steals it, leaves them bald.<\/p>\n
Some wear hats to hide behind,<\/p>\n
While others flash their flowing scarves.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Like hamsters falling from their heads,<\/p>\n
Large clumps fall out and make them cry\u2014<\/p>\n
But that\u2019s not how my headgear feels;<\/p>\n
Mine is a symbol that I\u2019m winning a fight.<\/p>\n
Mine is my warrior helmet bright.<\/p>\n
Mine tells the world that I\u2019m not afraid<\/p>\n
To wear hats or wigs\u2014to go hairless in spite!<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
One friend wore wigs,<\/p>\n
Though they itched worse than fleas.<\/p>\n
She covered her pate with the greatest of ease<\/p>\n
With a straw farming hat just as sweet as you please.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
One stood on the backstep,<\/p>\n
Each day in the breeze,<\/p>\n
And flung her gold locks<\/p>\n
To the birds in the trees,<\/p>\n
With prayers up to God as she tossed it around,<\/p>\n
To line their nests with a gift of soft down.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Another sweet lady,<\/p>\n
Though age-spotted and old,<\/p>\n
Skipped out on the wig<\/p>\n
Laced with silver and gold\u2014<\/p>\n
And instead, got hairdos to wear that were PINK!<\/p>\n
And made a statement far bolder, I think.<\/p>\n
Than to camouflage her head in retreat<\/p>\n
As if nothing was different, and all was complete.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
And yet still another wore baseball caps,<\/p>\n
She wasn\u2019t athletic, but stood staunchly \u2018at bat\u2019.<\/p>\n
She beat all the odds; she beat all the stats,<\/p>\n
Outlasting the chemo and growing it back.<\/p>\n
She grew back her lashes, her eyebrows and all.<\/p>\n
And gave all the caps to some kid who plays ball.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Me, I still have boxes of hats from my Mom,<\/p>\n
Who lost her battle and now is gone.<\/p>\n
We\u2019d \u2018dress to the nines\u2019 on Infusion Day.<\/p>\n
Hats, shoes and jewelry, in warrior array.<\/p>\n
Because dignity, pride, and holding your ground<\/p>\n
Are just as important as the hair on one\u2019s crown<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
If what\u2019s on the inside marks what on your head,<\/p>\n
If the hair\u2019s not just for beauty, but battle instead,<\/p>\n
Then bring on the armor, and I\u2019ll fight like a bear.<\/p>\n
It\u2019s all about battle\u2014and not about hair!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Some lament their long-gone hair When chemo steals it, leaves them bald. Some wear hats to hide behind, While others flash their flowing scarves. Like hamsters falling from their heads, Large clumps fall out and make them cry\u2014 But that\u2019s not how my headgear…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":564,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[13],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-55252","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-miscellaneous"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/thepoetrymarathon.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/55252","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/thepoetrymarathon.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/thepoetrymarathon.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thepoetrymarathon.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/564"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thepoetrymarathon.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=55252"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/thepoetrymarathon.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/55252\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":55255,"href":"https:\/\/thepoetrymarathon.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/55252\/revisions\/55255"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/thepoetrymarathon.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=55252"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thepoetrymarathon.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=55252"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thepoetrymarathon.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=55252"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}