She draws
the steel-
toothed comb
down the
long panels
of her wet
black hair.
Each stroke
with its dozen
parallel incisions,
lifting out
to show the
thin blue shine
of blacker
hair beneath.
Girl with a
horse’s mane,
heavy with
its rinse
of cold water,
strands weighted
taut with beads
that gather
to droplets
sized like
matching pearls,
and scattering
to spray
as the comb
cuts down
and through
and lifts
away to
begin again.