Loading...
Loading...
Click here if you don’t see subscription options
Philip MetresFebruary 10, 2017

Indeed, the very hairs of your head are all numbered. Do not fear; you are more valuable than many sparrows (Lk 12:7).
                            

But the ends of the earth
writhe in crazy fire, so I narrow
my eyes to count each strand
upon your sweet and tender head,

replenished by their number.
Midway in this thicket, a father
now, my own skull bared
by time’s flames, today I learn

for the first time the inside
of a girl’s hair, to brush the hair
beneath the hair. The generous

scalp might give them up to brush,
the brush might give them up to trash,
but I will hoard their beautiful night.

but I will hoard their beautiful night

 

Comments are automatically closed two weeks after an article's initial publication. See our comments policy for more.

The latest from america

It has been 56 years since humankind went to the moon—but it's still on our minds.
James T. KeaneJuly 22, 2025
Cardinal Pizzaballa and Patriarch Theophilos III gave a press conference after visiting the Holy Family Parish church, which was struck by Israeli forces.
“The definition of desolation is notoriously slippery,” Father James Martin writes. “It is not simply a period of dryness in prayer, which is common to everyone.”
James Martin, S.J.July 22, 2025
I felt two things when Stephen Colbert announced last Thursday that in nine months, CBS would be ending his top-rated “The Late Show with Stephen Colbert.” I felt uncomfortable. And I felt old.
Jake MartinJuly 22, 2025