When you tell me to brush my tangled hair

by Glauke

Published April 19, 2025

In All Poetry 2019-Present

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Comments & reviews · 6
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pixels
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pixels wrote a review Review · Jun 21, 2025

Nature evolved hair, not brush,


This is such a powerful line! It reframes what might seem like a small rebellion as something elemental. Hair becomes a stand-in for bodily autonomy and wildness that resists being tamed, which I connect to a radical sense of self-possession.

The poem’s structure really supports its message, as well. It flows like thought, pausing but never halting. You use enjambment to let certain images breathe, especially the italicized lines. I feel that these refrains function like societal voices, or even internalized ones, and I love how the narrator resists them with tenderness and conviction instead of, say, rage.

I think some of the images get lost though. For example:

Neural roots surged through the soil of my mind, / and I grew vast and gentle


This line is lovely! I do think it could benefit from more grounded language just before “vast and gentle” though -- maybe one more concrete idea to bridge the physical soil and the metaphorical mind. “Neural roots” is metaphorical of course, but it pulls me out of the physical world of the poem into something more conceptual.

The narrator is strong, but they are rarely vulnerable. You’ve clearly written a voice that is defiant, but when that strength is so constant, I feel it can start to come across as performative. I want to see a moment where the narrator isn't putting on this facade of capability. You do touch on vulnerability here, though:

so I might slake my unceasing thirst / with only the tears that fall / from my open eyes.


That’s closer! Something like this could make the wildness more powerful to me, because it shows they aren't shying away from emotions that don't conform to certain societal norms.

Great job! :)

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lalalucky
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lalalucky commented Comment · Jun 17, 2025

this is so awesome i love it!!! honestly cannot express how much i find this poem so beautiful. the language and the imagery is so lovely. ugh, gosh.

youraveragewriter commented Comment · Apr 25, 2025

Young, carefree and wild at heart, this reminds me so much of myself and even my daughter. There's so many more things important on this earth than brushing through my curls to frizziness. Messy buns and pinned back curls are my thing. My hair is as wild as my heart, and this poem says just that for you. Totally agreeable.. the nature mixed in with imagery gives this a very blooming vibe and filled my senses as I read. Nice

youraveragewriter commented Comment · Apr 25, 2025

Young, carefree and wild at heart, this reminds me so much of myself and even my daughter. There's so many more things important on this earth than brushing through my curls to frizziness. Messy buns and pinned back curls are my thing. My hair is as wild as my heart, and this poem says just that for you. Totally agreeable.. the nature mixed in with imagery gives this a very blooming vibe and filled my senses as I read. Nice

youraveragewriter wrote a review Review · Apr 25, 2025

Young, carefree and wild at heart, this reminds me so much of myself and even my daughter. There's so many more things important on this earth than brushing through my curls to frizziness. Messy buns and pinned back curls are my thing. My hair is as wild as my heart, and this poem says just that for you. Totally agreeable.. the nature mixed in with imagery gives this a very blooming vibe and filled my senses as I read. Nice

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Ivywhodis Comment
Ivywhodis commented Comment · Apr 19, 2025

Oh my god.



To succeed, you need to find something to hold on to, something to motivate you, something to inspire you.
— Tony Dorsett