The Heart Braid
My substitute mom massaged her threading hands
As substitute dad typed religiously on his Blackberry
She claimed I was finally ready for my soccer game
and even asked me how I liked it
I dragged myself over the hotel counter to stare into the mirror
At the heart protruding out of the back of my head
I caressed the golden threads that felt scratchy like straw bales
My fingertips scraping over the taut woven strands
They traced the separation caused by my crooked and unlovable part
All the way down to the two braids that sliced open my back
I had finally replaced my infamous boring ponytail
But soon my cowlicks undid all of substitute mom’s hard work
Maybe my hair wasn’t meant for braids
Or the braids weren’t meant for my hair
Either way, I was probably meant for a simple ponytail
Maybe my mom could do that
Maya Greenquist is a Senior at Missouri Southern State University who graduated from the American High School in Japan in 2020. She is an Honors Biomedical Sciences Pre-Medicine major and is a two-time Division II MIAA All-Conference women’s soccer player. Greenquist was responsible for helping create and organize the Artful Medicine Symposium Research Conference at Missouri Southern. Despite moderating the conference, Greenquist also placed 2nd for her poster presentation on poetry therapy in terminal patients inspired by her own love of poetry that has gotten her poems “The Heart Braid” and “A Sensational Funeral” published in three different national undergraduate literary anthologies.