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Postmodern Mourning

Amy Oakley

Mama told her more than once—
“Honey, you oughtta get your hair cut like that dead girl they keep showing
      on TV.”
So she watched the news, saw the
Glossy brown bob with bangs brushed to the side
And she thought—
“Yeah. Yeah, maybe I oughtta get my hair cut like that dead girl on TV.”
She thought it over, pondered the fact that
Before that dead girl died
She had been happy, had been popular, had been alive.
And so, one day after they showed the dead girl’s funeral
Broadcast live on ABC and CNN and NBC
She walked herself right down to the beauty shop
Flopped down on the cracked plastic seat
Grinned at the big haired lady yawning in front of her and said—
“I want my hair cut just like that dead girl they keep showing on TV.”
And everyone in that shop nodded, and a few smiled, and one wiped away a
      tear
(careful not to smudge her cheap mascara)
And they all said—
“Oh, yes. Ain’t it just a shame about that dead girl? But if she didn’t have the
      prettiest hair.”