tea tree & jojoba
NitaJade
NitaJade
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when i’m too busy to notice my hair
is first to tell me that i’m retreating. coils cower closer to scalp. i scratch irritation, fingers turn bloody or black-wooled or both. i think of Nana, how chemo stole fistfuls of Her braggin-curls so She called up clippers. 15 years pass: She put Her close shave & gold tooth on display when i trim my head a third time, say i’m just tryna get like You. i think of Mama, how She whoop Her hair & hug it after. corrects relaxer to conditioning, insists on calling chemicals different, yet both result in locs losing interest. how, when spider webs whispered to Her nerves, crocheted stitches snatched follicles from root. She lifted the bloody fleece, inspected damage. raised brow shifted to show the child. i offered tea-tree & jojoba, reassurance pressed in oil. i think back to a bottom shelf, bookless, filled with my body, toddler running thick fingers through that good hair. scissors. a beatin’ |
Adaptation of untitled image, by Autumn Goodman, digital photograph, 2022 (image courtesy of Unsplash)
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About the Author
NitaJade (they/she) is a self-proclaimed weirdo hailing from Asheville, NC. NitaJade holds a BA in African and African American Studies with a minor in Theatre from Berea College. As of 2022, they've earned their MFA in Creative Writing: Poetry from the University of Kentucky, and they've been named an Affrilachian Poet. They are currently a Visiting Assistant Professor of English at Centre College. They aspire to embody the combined aesthetics of sloths and narwhals (slarwhals, if you please.) There’s no space in their name and, yes, they’re aware. They laugh loudly and stubbornly.
About the Work
"The poem "tea tree & jojoba" came about during my first year of grad school. My depression showed up in my hair, which brought back memories of depression showing up in my loved ones' hair."
About the Author's Process
"Creating anything during the 2021-2022 year was motivated by necessity, curiosity, the yearning for a creative release, and the need for all the dead birds to mean something."
NitaJade (they/she) is a self-proclaimed weirdo hailing from Asheville, NC. NitaJade holds a BA in African and African American Studies with a minor in Theatre from Berea College. As of 2022, they've earned their MFA in Creative Writing: Poetry from the University of Kentucky, and they've been named an Affrilachian Poet. They are currently a Visiting Assistant Professor of English at Centre College. They aspire to embody the combined aesthetics of sloths and narwhals (slarwhals, if you please.) There’s no space in their name and, yes, they’re aware. They laugh loudly and stubbornly.
About the Work
"The poem "tea tree & jojoba" came about during my first year of grad school. My depression showed up in my hair, which brought back memories of depression showing up in my loved ones' hair."
About the Author's Process
"Creating anything during the 2021-2022 year was motivated by necessity, curiosity, the yearning for a creative release, and the need for all the dead birds to mean something."
