Back home for Passover, Sarah feels safe
as a single number at the end of a crowded equation.
Her shoes pinch, but she won’t tell Mama,
who already worries
that the youngest child is not quite right.
Sarah’s brothers get into mischief and more.
But when Mama finds her crying, Sarah confides
that classmates tease that her hair is too big.
She begs Mama to cut it. Mama combs her fingers tenderly
through her dark hair, but when Sarah insists,
opens her sewing scissors. A mistake.
The cropped hair bounds out more wildly than before.