Hair Regime

He avowed love after dragging her by her hair.
“It wedged our union,” he explained, “your hair.”

Outrage spilled from her family: This is raw abuse.
She defended him and changed the style of her hair.

His cruelty endured and she had to flee,
With what remained of her Henna hair.

Today she cut her tresses for Amini –
Killed by morality police for baring her hair.

While the vice squad flaunted their long beard
Amini was slain for an untucked strand of hair.

Women rallied against this oppression,
Men picketed by scissoring off their hair.

Iran lost the world soccer game but won respect
For supporting women, their freedom, their hair.

I say, Jaya, God didn’t create hair exposure laws.
The issue is tyranny not women’s hair.

Jayanthi is a social justice junkie, LGBTQ+ fighter and an advocate of preservation of nature through her poems. She writes to renew her lease of life. Her recent publications are with Hindsight journal, Io Literary journal, Zoetic Press, Stonecrop, Rubbertop, Eclectica, Elevation Review, Rigorous, Poet's Choice, Wingless Dreamer and Indolent Books. Her short stories are published in Twisted Vine Literary Publication, Corner Club Press and Bookend Review.