Salon by Margaret Curtis

Doug McHargue
BEAUTY IN THE SHOP
after “Salon” by Margaret Curtis

He’s brought her here
for twenty years
this pink cabinet room,
her foggy blue hair
she says she’s tired of
wants something new,
maybe nothing bold
as Nymph of the Chair
who thinks she’s pure
and peeled back truth
no cover up
while his nights are
flannel buttoned
brittle winter limbs.

Now hair spray wafting,
messing with his head, eyes,
What the hell –
her halting steps,
streaks of purple on blue
like ribbons swinging
in a young girl’s hair.

Doug McHargue reads her poem “Beauty In The Shop” at the Hickory Museum of Art for the Art of Poetry event on September 20. Photo courtesy of Ginny and Roger Sanford.