Poetry

Old men –

grey trousered,

open necked white shirts,

long sleeves rolled to the elbows,

black leather shoes –

Sit aligned

On the wooden barber’s bench.

Reticent men from another world

Witness to the shearing of a new generation.

The father –

long hair an echo of his generation’s rebellion,

faded, downtrodden jeans,

coloured T-shirt declaring his fealty,

shabby sneakers –

Clashes with his son –

fashion dictated jeans and footwear

logoed T-shirt,

clean-shaven.

The argument,

Samson’s pride,

Forms the centre of the debate,

The son reclaiming

The razored induction into manhood.

Old men ruminate on the ritual,

The irony of fashion,

The source of strength ….

Knowing why one battles and the conviction it is right to do so.

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