Old Silver Hair – II (from Lucy Corin)

Lily Hoang
· in ,

Theirs was not the most luxurious of bathrooms, but they had three. Old Silver Hair went into the first—clearly Pappa Bear’s—and she had to use a step stool to reach the sink. She stretches as substantially as she can and the handle remains too far to negotiate. Everything is just so high off the ground. Who can reach all that?, Old Silver Hair says. She shakes her old crone head shiny with polish and pomade. Old Silver Hair moves on to the second bathroom. Vanilla and lavender salts nibble at her paper skin and she looks down at streaks of blood all over her body. Too damn exfoliating!, Old Silver Hair declares. She is almost without hope, but her need to piss is quite pressing! Finally, she arrives at the third bathroom. Everything seems to be perfectly sized for her. Nothing stinks of pretty things. She drops her granny panties and sits. Here, she thinks, even the most demanding customer can relax and love themselves in style.

Lily Hoang is the author of four books, including Changing, recipient of a PEN Open Books Award. With Blake Butler, she edited 30 Under 30, and with Joshua Marie Wilkinson, she is editing the anthology The Force of What’s Possible: Writers on the Avant-Garde and Accessibility (Night Boat, forthcoming 2014). She is Associate Department Head at New Mexico State University, where she teaches in the MFA program and serves as Prose Editor for Puerto del Sol.