Near the corner of Q and 22^nd Streets
across from the “All welcome here”
rainbow banner, a woman has cut her hair
to look like the emo punk rock girl
she pretends to be.

Scared to show
or confused about
who she really is

Cutting or dying her hair into a new fashion
long or short
with or without bangs
razor the layers
add blonde highlights

Grow it back out and start again.

Similar to a hermit crab exchanging shells,
she switches her persona every couple of months
from Gothic
to All-American.
Seeking a shell that fits.

Smooth
with a couple of cracks from relationships past,
swirling shades
of purple and red
tumultuous moods.

Chipped rough edges, yet still whole and delicate.
Wounded,
but strong.

Her shells discarded with a shake of her head
and falling inches of hair.

In the search to find herself,
she leaves behind a trail of empty shells and
broken hearts like mine.

Lisa Dixon is enrolled in the Cherokee Nation of Oklahoma and is also part Choctaw. She grew up on the Haskell Indian Nations University campus and eventually became an American Indian Studies major there and played varsity basketball. She has taken a variety of English classes at Haskell; the last was creative writing with Trish Reeves, who taught her how to better express herself and emotions through writing poetry. She plans to pursue a degree in psychology at another institution to become a therapist or counselor in private practice.

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