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Skunk On a Bad Hair Day
by
Sharon Waller Knutson


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Too busy for a salon
shampoo and haircut,
stray strands of long white
hair fluffing and flying
in all directions
down her back
to the ground, she
turns up her nose
at the orange and banana peels
the crows and chipmunks
are fighting over, chomps
on a corncob and washes
it down with pond water.
Lucky for us, her perfume
bottle sits on the dresser
next to her hairbrush
while she hikes
across the Arizona desert
and stops in our front yard
for a snack and a cold beverage.


© by Sharon Waller Knutson.
Used with the author’s permission.

 


Sharon Waller Knutson lives in a house her husband, Albert, built out of clay from the land on a dirt road in the middle of the wildlife habitat and open range of the Arizona desert. A retired journalist, she writes poetry for readers who don’t normally read poetry. In 2014, Sharon sold her chapbook, My Grandmother Smokes Chesterfields, to winter visitors from all over the world in a café where her husband played guitar and sang country music. Her customers told her they expected her to publish a new poetry book when they returned each year so, in 2015, she published Desert Directions, about her life in the desert. In 2016, she published They Affectionately Call Her a Dinosaur, poems about her customers and other seniors in her life who started new careers, businesses, and relationships after they retired. And in 2017, Sharon published I Did it Anyway, poems about how she broke the glass ceiling in the newspaper business in the ‘60s and ‘70s, when women were typically relegated to the society pages. This year, Albert retired from playing music so Sharon now operates her bookselling operation online.

 


Post New Comment:
Lori Levy:
Great!
Posted 05/22/2019 05:27 PM
MLove:
Yay! What a great poem!
Posted 05/22/2019 05:20 PM
Janet Wilcox:
Love It! The first time I've ever identified with a skunk! How fun to read.
Posted 05/22/2019 04:28 PM
Jean Colonomos-1:
Love the angle you take in this poem. Such fun.
Posted 05/22/2019 11:26 AM
paradea:
Hahahahaha!! Good one!!
Posted 05/22/2019 10:53 AM
michael escoubas:
Wonderfully simple, yet, delightful poem. It is the "stuff" of life! Thank you Sharon and love your use of the short line. Nice appearance on the page.
Posted 05/22/2019 08:03 AM
plgoodman:
Delightful. Thank you!
Posted 05/22/2019 07:36 AM
nancy scott:
We could all use some lightness in our lives and in the world today and Sharon can deliver. I am familiar with her chapbooks and every poem will make you smile. Go girl!
Posted 05/22/2019 06:45 AM


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