Bald Like Me, poem for my sister in chemo

Bald Like Me

When I lost my hair
from chemo,
I thought I should wear a hat, a scarf, a wig,
but then I knew it would be better to feel
innocent as a baby
and just as bald.

No one thinks a baby should feel shame
at the lack of hair.
I could wear a hat if cold,
but otherwise
let all the world see
me - simply happy to be alive,
going through therapy.

No one seemed to mind
this radical stand I took,
and the best thing of all was the relief,
the thumbs-up honesty
of other women who understood,
at the clinic, bald like me.

Gail
12/12/2010