Ironing My Hair

by Maggi Grace

Perched on the metal stepstool
in the dry corner of the cellar
I'd cozy up to the ironing board
while Mom chased the comb
down my waist length of hair
with the hot Sunbeam

Wincing at the rasp of steam
and the tortured smell,
I'd try to cock my eyes
to watch the reflection of my scalp
lifting in the chrome of the iron
as it skidded toward my face

trying to detect the trace of satisfaction
in hers
as she offered me up to the fire
then saved me
just in time.

Maggi Grace is a writer and visual artist in Chapel Hill, North Carolina. She has an MFA from UNC-Greensboro and has taught creative writing for the past 12 years. Her poetry and fiction have been widely published in literary magazines and anthologies. Her paintings and mosaics are available in galleries in North Carolina and Georgia and can be viewed on her Web site.