my hair is falling out more--
i don't quite understand why.
could it be the food I've been eating--
or lack thereof.
am i pulling too ******* my ponytails--
or yanking too tightly while twisting my braids.
can it be the stress of my final days of school--
or all the assignments still marked in red.
possibly the ache in my heart for him--
or the rage simmering in my chest.
maybe it's simply symptoms of ***--
or just my mind pressing buttons at random.
would it be because of my anxiety flowing over--
or the jitters from my morning cup of coffee.
funny if I've been tearing at my scalp in my sleep--
or clawing the demons from my dreams.

Your crown
Your power
Your security
Your confidence, when all else fails
But what if your crown starts to disintegrate?
Leaving you vulnerable, open to the mouths
Of dragons and daggers
Leaving you in shambles and distress
Fighting a war against the mirror
And feeling defeat as you surrender to the hairs
Around your feet
To shear? To accept?
With tears in your eyes
And clumps of hair in your hands
You are defeated.

Where there was something,
Now there is nothing:
A glade in the forest
Is all that remains.
The woodland of youth
Became wasteland;
No serum or tonic
Could Regaine* its flourish.
Sometimes, I run my fingers
Through the ghost
Of what was there.
I am, of course, speaking
Of my phantom hair.