The barber waits, leaning on the back

of his red, padded chair and I stand

hero of my own story,

hands on hips, face uplifted,

showing the fine grain of my blockhead.

These are black and blue times

and I wait for my Charlotte Corday

while sitting shrinking

on the waiting room chair.

Marat’s quill was always a razor,

blood and black bile everywhere.

Rohan Buettel lives in Canberra, Australia’s bush capital. His haiku have appeared in various Australian and international journals (including Frogpond, Cattails and The Heron’s Nest). His longer poetry most recently appears in The Elevation Review, Rappahannock Review, Penumbra Literary and Art Journal, Mortal Magazine, Passengers Journal, Reed Magazine, Meniscus and Quadrant.