By Ockert Greef

The boy is sitting backward on a cheap plastic chair
His shoulders bowed under a faded orange towel

Behind him stands a shirtless man
His belly drooping over bright blue running shorts

They are on a roofless cement stoop
At the back of a small, dull house
With one window and one door
A large tree leans over them
Letting the sun through to draw yellow lines
Across the stoop, the boy and the man

In front of the boy on the cement is a radio
And behind it, a big engine on a rusty metal stand

The big-bellied man lays his index finger
On the crown of the boy’s head
Bending it forward and down

With a thick hand he moves a pair of clippers up
Against the back of the boy’s head
Hair falling on the faded orange towel

He moves the clippers slowly
Up and down
Flicking the clippers every now and then
To send small flocks of hair flying

Now he stops
Tilts his head
Stares past the boy in the direction of the radio

He stands just like that, frozen
Speckles of dust circling his index finger
On the boy’s bowed head
A lost piece of hair drifting down

The boy’s eyes are closed
His face so relaxed, he could be sleeping

And behind him, the big-bellied man’s eyes close
Just for a moment
And then open.

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Ockert Greeff is a South African Canadian poet and drummer. He is cofounder of the band Brixton Moord en Roof Orkes and his drum poem films have been shown at international poetry film festivals. His poems and poetry-drumming works have appeared in publications such as Ons Klyntji, South Florida Poetry Journal, and Thimble Literary Magazine and honored by Writer’s Digest Poetry Awards.