Poetry

Hair holds memories, you say?

Pranjal Singh N.K. Bagrodia Public School · Delhi, India Published in Aporia · June 2026

I keep my dead hair

Stuck to my scalp

They stick out my braid

Like a fraying flag

They have been with me

Since my first fall

They've seen my highs

They've seen my lows

They've seen the girl I was

They've seen it all

They've been caught

In my mistakes

Yanked and jerked

Along the way

How could I be so cruel

And snip them away?

They've been my anchor

My only bay

How could I cut

This part of me away?

Carried through years

I cannot replay

Every inch, a season

Every split end, a proof

A story of my life

In strands and hues

They broke apart

When I couldn't follow through

Hair holds memories

But it holds me too

About the Author Pranjal Singh N.K. Bagrodia Public School · Delhi, India

Pranjal Singh is a student at N.K. Bagrodia Public School in Delhi. Her personal essay "The Habit of You" was published in Aporia Issue 2. She writes about the small things people keep — hair, habits, feelings too complicated to name. "Hair holds memories, you say?" is her second published piece with Aporia.