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        • Daniel Staub Weinberg Firehouse Art Center Postcard Exhibit
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        • Eva Schultz Firehouse Art Center Postcard Exhibit
        • Samantha Malay Firehouse Art Center Postcard Exhibit
        • D Allen Firehouse Art Center Postcard Exhibit
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        • Tony Peyser Firehouse Art Center Postcard Exhibit
        • Sarah Santoni Firehouse Art Center Postcard Exhibit
        • Julia Klatt Singer Firehouse Art Center Postcard Exhibit
        • Kathryn Kruse Firehouse Art Center Postcard Exhibit
        • Meg Freer Firehouse Art Center Postcard Exhibit
        • Moira Walsh Firehouse Art Center Postcard Exhibit
        • Stephanie Staab Firehouse Art Center Postcard Exhibit
        • Anne Swannell Firehouse Art Center Postcard Exhibit
        • Laura Knott Firehouse Art Center Postcard Exhibit
        • Jo Goren Firehouse Art Center Postcard Exhibit
        • CR Resetarits Firehouse Art Center Postcard Exhibit
        • Sarah Ernestine Firehouse Art Center Postcard Exhibit
        • Stephanie Johnson Firehouse Art Center Postcard Exhibit
        • Charles J. March III Firehouse Art Center Postcard Exhibit
        • Emily Mosley Firehouse Art Center Postcard Exhibit
        • Grace Desmarais Firehouse Art Center Postcard Exhibit
        • Emily Vieweg Firehouse Art Center Postcard Exhibit
        • Claire Lawrence Firehouse Art Center Postcard Exhibit
        • Meca'Ayo Cole Firehouse Art Center Postcard Exhibit
        • Andrea Rexilius Firehouse Art Center Postcard Exhibit
        • Christian Garduno Firehouse Art Center Postcard Exhibit
        • Salma Ahmad Caller Firehouse Art Center Postcard Exhibit
        • Glenn Thomas Firehouse Art Center Postcard Exhibit
        • Claire Yspol Firehouse Art Center Postcard Exhibit
        • Michael Thompson Firehouse Art Center Postcard Exhibit
        • Rikki Santer Firehouse Art Center Postcard Exhibit
        • Laura Gamache Firehouse Art Center Postcard Exhibit
        • Christine Williams Firehouse Art Center Postcard Exhibit
        • Stephanie Beechem Firehouse Art Center Postcard Exhibit
        • Imma Dunach Firehouse Art Center Postcard Exhibit
        • Ginny Short Firehouse Art Center Postcard Exhibit
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        • Carolyn Adams Firehouse Art Center Postcard Exhibit
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​​​The Fissured Tongue Series 

tea tree & jojoba

NitaJade
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’
Picture
Adaptation of untitled image, by Autumn Goodman, digital photograph, 2022 (image courtesy of Unsplash)
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."
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