Trafika Europe 8 - Romanian Holiday

Poems

Barbershop Nights An Eye-Witness Account

Mr. Gică never sleeps. In the evening, after he closes, he combs his hair, cleans his instruments, wipes the mirrors, washes the aprons, and then he rests a little with his fingers crossed over his stomach, slowly twiddling his thumbs. Once it’s completely dark, he goes in back and turns on the sign for the clandestine hair salon. Mr. Gică is the world’s greatest clandestine hair stylist.

He has six normal chairs and six with hair dryers. At midnight, in lamé dresses with bare backs, smoking long cigarettes, eyes shining with belladonna, they come for Mr. Gică to do their hair: the wives of tenors and soccer players. Then he slowly rolls down their velvet gloves, their hose

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