You are so afraid of staining your carpet, your clothes
With wine colored hair dye
That you decide to slip into her torn up jeans
And a plain white tee
Inside out and wrinkled
While I sit next to you
In a neatly pressed dress shirt and my favorite pair of jeans

You sit there on your bathroom floor
Stirring the dye in a stainless steel bowl
With a pen you couldn't decide if you wanted to keep
You scoop it out with your index finger
And press it into sections of your hair
While I am making conversation
Trying to fill the room with words

Finally,
You ask me to wash your hair
So you squat in the tub,
Leaning your head forward under the faucet
The warm water pushes and changes the shape of your hair
Making the bottom of the tub
Look like it was being filled with red wine
I slowly run my gloved fingers through your hair
Darkening the water with each touch
At first, you frantically try to roll up your cuffs
Trying not to stain her jeans
But eventually you give up
And let the water soak through and through

When we are finished
You towel off
While I wipe off the dye on the floor

We grab dinner at a nearby Popeye's
And come back to your house
We eat our food together
Cross-legged and happy
On your bedroom floor

While trading chickens with you
I wonder if all days with you
Are like this

Where you dress up
Dress down
And spend the evening
Trying to hide the dye stains
From your mother

When I get home later that evening,
I notice there is a tiny red stain
On the leg of my favorite jeans
It seems that you are everywhere
On everything that I adore

And I am the dye in your hair
So easily washed out
That you tried so desperately
To prevent from staining her jeans
That you so deeply loved

Want to comment on this Poetry? Sign up to Edit Red and you will be able to comment on Poetry and get access to: Upload your own stories and poems, get readers and their feedback, promote your work...