I can not let you braid my hair,
I do not love you yet.

You can muss it and flip it and twist it around
I can undo that with a shake of my head.

Hand over hand,
Strand over strand,
Weaving something out of nothing
Making it your own.

You braid sloppily.
I know.
I've heard.

And a messy, knotted, tangled braid
Can be hard to unravel
Chunks of hair ripped out
Fingers trapped in knots.
It's an unpleasant business.

So you can not braid my hair
Until I'm ready
For it to stay there.