This work was first published in Spread the Word’s Young Writers Collective Anthology, 2025. This anthology stands as a testament to the courage, creativity, and growth of a remarkable group of young poets who have spent seven months exploring the power of language and self-expression. The anthology is more than a collection of poems—it is a celebration of emerging voices, of stories told with boldness and vulnerability.

All of the poems can be read here on our website, or you can download the Young Writer’s Collective Anthology to read as a PDF.

Twists by Dominique Vincent

I loved them until I didn’t.
Shrinkage made them barely chin-length
a chunkiness that felt childish
I swore I’d never wear them again
length the only priority.
Later that year I got heat damage
a gift for my 18th birthday
so, I cried as I held the limp imitation
of my curls and refused to cut them off.
YouTube breeding hair type obsessions and
Hair porosity dissections
Pink Oil Lotion gave way to
Shea Moisture.

I learned to let my hair breathe.
The sizzle of wet hair on a straightening comb
abandoned for the ‘natural way’
of air drying with LOC or LCO.
I never figured out which one
was better. No shape to my afro
but she wasn’t to blame. She was
never out for long ‘messy unruly hair’
needed to be tamed.
When the afro grew tired, I
found myself returning to twists.

Ignoring side eyes and
‘what’s that on your head’,
Wash days became carved out respite,
TV catch ups and camera rolls filled
with awkward angles of half head curls
and an Afro appreciated at every length.

About Dominique Vincent

Dominique Vincent (she/her) is a poet and filmmaker born and raised in South London. She has a Bachelor’s in English Literature and Film from the University of Reading. She was a part of the 2nd Iteration of the V&A’s Inwrds Cohort in 2024. Her work covers the different dimensions of Blackness particularly through the lens of archiving and reclaiming history. Dominique’s Sierra Leonean Heritage is also a common theme in her work.