I found the college photo

I found the college photo.

My hair was short. The status quo

was destroyed by a stylist who didn't care.

Too short. Too uneven. Unfair.

What got me was my face—

younger, older, displaced,

vulnerable in a way

I didn't plan to display.

Six months of mirrors.

Hair grows back, people say. But the years

of photos stay.

Everyone still sees me that way.

I can't undo it.

Can't ask them to unsee it.

Just live with the photo

and the blow

of not owning my face.

Never felt like the right place.