went down to 7 bucks a whack
to get my haircut
by the old lady barber
w/ the little fur ball pooch
wearing a jean jacket
panting its felt tab tongue

an old man is getting his
hair cut
then a younger man waiting
& me in third

she finishes the old man
he gets up
& digs in his wallet
she sweeps up
skiffs of gray hair
brooming
the chrome hubcap base
of the barber’s chair

he gives her a crumpled fold of bills
‘thank you doll,’ he says
he reaches out
& they squeeze hands
in a wrinkled understanding
once, not so long ago,
they weren’t the generation
next in line for the grave

‘i’m gonna go have some beers’
he says on his way out
‘well then go across the street,’ she hollers after him

the guy next in line sits in the chair
the old man goes out the front door
& turns up the sidewalk

‘i didn’t mean in that direction’
she says to us
as the old man heads left
towards the dancin’ bare
strip club