If I were blonde like those princesses
from non-woke Disney productions
(or more realistically like my fair haired father)
it might’ve turned an icy, silvery white
like a piece of moonlight
frozen by magic or accident
and somewhat like the
silver tilla flowers hand embroidered
onto my mother’s wedding dupattas-
but my hair is dark, dark
as a moonless night
so my first gray is dull
and insipid-like gray usually is
the colour of an overcast sky,
the shade black turns into
on poorly preserved film reels,
the least used colour
from a toddler’s crayon collection.