When my spouse lost all of his hair due to chemo, my friends whispered to me: bald men are hot, or more boldly, he looks hot bald. Was it the mutation of cells that made him hot? The cancer serving as X-gene, the superpower: hotness? Does proximity to death lend some heat? My friends were not wrong though. In the photos I took after his scalp went smooth, he stares at me, bare head in his hand, smoldering, the very picture of hotness. But I felt him shiver under the covers, heard him chatter in summer heat. I covered his head with beanies and found warm blankets to spread over his body during long treatments. When the cancer was gone and most of his hair grew back, friends stopped saying my spouse is hot, his superpower once again disguised and unspeakable.
Katie Manning is a poet, professor, and parent, but not necessarily in that order. She's the author of eight poetry collections, including Tasty Other, which won the Main Street Rag Poetry Book Award and was featured on Poetry Unbound. She enjoys beaches, books, board games, brownies, and alliteration. Visit katiemanningpoet.com.
