When I was a little girl,
Mama always put my hair in two pigtail braids.
She'd separate it so one was on each shoulder,
and then gave me a finishing twirl.

Never have I ever thought of what the hair felt like.
From day one in science class, I was taught it was dead cells,
nothing more, nothing less.
Never have I ever thought of how it felt to be pulled so tight.

It's taken a few years, and I've long since grown out of the pigtail braids.
Now, I make them more fancy, a french braid or a fancy one to the side.
Maybe this is a lesson, that things only get pulled tighter and tighter with hidden rage and growing age.
Never have I ever known how fast a stressed and pulled heart fades.