NEPHART.COM

people sharing their stories with barbers

over a haircut

me pretending i haven’t heard anything

holding a newspaper

covering my face

like an avid reader

while the story turns its pages for me

ears pointing somewhere

i had a big farm

went bankrupt

started again

first wife left

second wife cheated

third is somewhere out there

erased all the tattoos

with their names

my body became a canvas

dedicated to love

but love was never there

on the canvas

i said

i wouldn’t mind

waiting for another hour

there’s nothing much interesting

but there is curiosity

about where the story would end

maybe he had planned it well

a story that would last

until his haircut finished

was it just a script

to entertain each other

he thought he had an audience

me and the barber

maybe a few more

when they walked in

i don’t know what they were talking about

before i arrived

even the next person walking in

might wonder what’s going on

he may not care

with earbuds stuffed in his ears

but the shop music is already loud

noise cancellation wouldn’t help

the barber showed him the mirror

he checked both sides

said great

paid

and walked away

the newspaper came down

nobody asked me anything

i was happy

to leave it that way