There's a dungeon
in the basement of the barbershop,
and that's where the barbers
would throw little boys
if they misbehaved
and didn't sit still.
They threw you down there
because there were no stairs,
and the fall would surely kill you,
unless you landed in the tank
with the alligators
(which were way too big
to fit under any bed),
and before you were completely wet
or even had a chance to scream
they would have eaten you whole.
But if by chance you missed the tank
and survived the fall,
there was absolutely no way out
of the dungeon,
because the walls
were slimy and impossible to climb.
And there you would have to wait
for whatever it was
that lived in dark damp slimy dungeons -
Rats and bats and snakes and spiders
and probably even the Creature himself!
And that is why
Billy Balinski barely breathed
when the barber cut his hair.

July 1981