Hair Always Grows Back

This is just a rant poem. It's not supposed to be very well-written or anything. Just a rant in poetry style

Hey, there. Thanks for sharing this. I say that not only as an appreciation for your contribution of poetry, but also for how you've shared your voice via written word to express the health/mental health concerns that many people face. Writing on these topics and themes can be a big help, if only for others to see that they're not fighting their battles alone.

It looks like your formatting is pretty clear, even while this is a more informal work of poetry. Spelling and grammar look good, too. The narrative type of style flows pretty smoothly, but perhaps more than that, it is just straightforward. Not a lot of flowy, flowery words to clutter the narrative and the direction it is going. Sometimes a lot of descriptive wording is just what a poem needs to touch the emotions of a reader, but I think in this case it is appropriate to keep things as simple as they are. I can interpret it as the idea that a person who is going through a lot of heavy stuff doesn't always have a lot of pretty expressions to romanticize their struggle; it is just the basic words tumbling out of someone who's weary of the battle.

The beginning of the poem gives an indication that the ending will be positive and uplifting, but such is not necessarily the case. Instead, the poem ends on a grim note. While some might argue that this is a flaw, I personally don't necessarily see it that way. Sometimes poetry needs to be written just to express what the writer is going through when they are in the middle of it, and at that point in time, they do not have the foresight to perceive the good ending yet. So poems with a grim tone and a less-than-happy ending can simply serve as an expression of the heart during its pain. Even though we may have begun reading with the assumption that the conclusion would be happy, we instead watch the unraveling of the healing experienced by the narrator, and find that sometimes an unhappy ending is more impactful when it comes to poems.

At the end of the day, my main takeaway is that I hope whoever is going through this or some struggle of similar magnitude will take heart and learn that the path of healing is one of ups and downs, but doesn't have to be a failure as long as we keep going. I hope whoever fights these battles finds the help they need and the comfort in knowing that real love does not give up on a person even in their darkest, ugliest moments. And I hope you know that while I may be a random person, my heart holds love and care for you and for all who are hurting.

Keep writing! Your work may make a bigger difference than you know.

hey there friend, i thought i'd leave a quick review for this piece. i actually wrote about something sort of similar for the intro to a piece back in september. so, your imagery of pulling out clumps of your own hair in the shower was very vivid for me. to me, this poem seems to be about the process of healing. the narrator tells us in the very beginning of the poem that they shaved their head 2 and a half years ago, and by the end of the poem, the reader is left to assume that the narrator has pulled out all their own hair from their head. though this could be meant to be literal, i think that it could also be metaphorical.

You wrote: "I held on to hope, // Remembering that hair always grows back." that's something i always think of whenever someone tells me they're thinking of cutting their hair. i always encourage them to do it if they feel the instinct for it because like you said, hair always grows back; things don't stay the same, things keep changing.

like i said before, i think that this poem is about the process of healing. i think that this poem is a gentle reminder that healing isn't a straightforward process (that's not quite the word i'm looking for but i can't find a better one). some days are better than others. in the case of this poem, it seems the narrator felt that their hair growing back was proof that they were healing, and now that it is falling all out again, now that the narrator is pulling it out of their scalp in clumps, they feel as though the process will start over.

the narrator acknowledges again, "I know it will grow back // but I cannot wait another 2 and a half years // to be able to look at myself in the mirror." the narrator acknowledges that the hair will grow back, that they will heal and find some comfort in the future, but for the time being they feel hopeless.

at least, that's how i interpret the poem. i really enjoyed reading this. i think that my favorite lines are at the end of the second to last stanza: "Maybe I deserve love // But all I get is pity. // I will never be seen as an equal to a person, // who isn't slowly killing themselves every day of their life." to me, this part just makes me visualize people who look at you like you're a hurt puppy after you share something with them. i don't know- i just totally get what you mean in those lines and i think you put it perfectly so i won't bother trying to explain it any further. thanks for sharing this here, i look forward to reading more of your work soon : )