Dear Grey Hair

Dear Grey Hair Jainab Tabassum Banu (bio) As time goes by,Leaves fall, branches weaken,My skin goes dry,Bone shivers in coldAnd my twittering voice softens. Northern birds hastily flyTo meet their ancestors' ashesIn the tropical places whereHeat brings warmth andThe beauty—they temporarily possess. The sky sheds tears at my lossThey fall like tiny snowflakes,But they don't stayAnd quickly go awayLike the memory of my golden days. In the world of temporality,Suddenly you appearTo draw time's soft kissUpon my unripen skull,Now you grow like the crown of Phthisis! Dear grey hair,Now that you have come, stay!Stay like the threshold of history,Stay like a lover's unexplored mystery,Stay and triumph over time's tragic trajectory! [End Page 142] Jainab Tabassum Banu jainab tabassum banu is a PhD student and graduate teaching assistant in the Department of English at North Dakota State University. She is interested in the intersection of gender, race and class in postcolonial studies. She is a columnist and an aspiring poet.