The Tallest Crop by Vicky Lindo and Bill Brookes

Dolly Bucket

“Our daughter is a teenager and it is nice that she no longer needs us as much as she did when she was little but sometimes I miss that contact I had with her then that she no longer needs us for now. Things like sharing a bed when she was frightened by a bad dream or making cakes together, we are no longer needed. She does however need someone to plait her hair and I have come to relish the challenge of making fine neat plaits for her to wear. The title The Tallest Crop comes from a poem by Raych Jackson called A sestina for a black girl that does not know how to braid hair. “The tallest crop is worshipped at harvest. So many little hands in your head. You are finally useful.” She is talking about the girl who is having her hair plaited but I feel that I am finally useful to my daughter for being able to plait her hair. Her favourite plait is a fishtail”