Classic and Contemporary Poetry: Explained

Terrance Hayes’ "Shafro" is a meditation on identity, masculinity, and the mythology of Black cool, particularly as it is embodied in the 1970s Blaxploitation icon Shaft. The poem is both playful and deeply introspective, blending humor with anxiety, fantasy with self-doubt. Through the speaker’s musings on his afro and its cultural weight, Hayes constructs a complex exploration of Black self-perception in relation to popular media.

The poem begins with an assertion of self-assurance: "Now that my afro’s as big as Shaft’s / I feel a little better about myself." The afro, a powerful symbol of Black pride and resistance, becomes a source of comfort for the speaker. Comparing his own to that of Shaft—a character played by Richard Roundtree, known for his effortless confidence, his authority over every situation—imbues the speaker with a borrowed sense of power. The next lines reinforce this: "How it warms my bullet-head in Winter, / black halo, frizzy hat of hair." The afro is described in almost sacred terms, a "black halo", suggesting divinity, protection, and status. Yet, the phrase "bullet-head" complicates this, subtly invoking violence, vulnerability, and the physical reality of his own head beneath the symbolism.

Hayes immediately contrasts the speaker’s admiration of Shaft’s hair with a key observation: "Shaft knew what a crown his was, / an orb compared to the bush / on the woman sleeping next to him." The line underscores Shaft’s self-awareness—he knew his afro was regal. But it also introduces gender dynamics, placing Shaft in a perpetual state of dominance and desirability. The women in Shaft’s world are secondary, their afros mere “bush” compared to his "orb." This prompts the speaker’s self-conscious reflection: "(There was always a woman / sleeping next to him. I keep thinking, / If I’d only talk to strangers . . . / grow a more perfect head of hair.)" Here, Hayes plays with the idea that Shaft’s charisma—his ability to attract women, his fearlessness—stems in part from his afro. The speaker wonders if he too could cultivate such confidence, as if the right afro could transform him.

The poem takes a turn as the speaker moves from admiration to self-doubt. He recalls Shaft’s many battles: "Bullet after barreling bullet, / fist-fights & car chases, / three movies & a brief TV series," yet his afro remains "never one muffled strand, / never dampened by sweat." Shaft’s invulnerability extends to his hair, reinforcing his mythic status. The speaker, by contrast, acknowledges his own physicality: "I sweat in even the least heroic of situations." The humor here is tinged with insecurity—Shaft is effortless, the speaker is not.

The turning point arrives with an admission of fear: "I'm sure you won’t believe this, / but if a policeman walks behind me, I tremble: / What would Shaft do? What would Shaft do?" The repetition underscores the stark contrast between the speaker’s reality and the fantasy of Shaft. The phrase "I'm sure you won’t believe this" speaks to the larger societal expectation that Black masculinity should be fearless. The presence of the police, however, strips away the veneer of cool, exposing the real-world vulnerability of Black men. The invocation of Shaft becomes ironic—whereas Shaft would handle the situation with unwavering confidence, the speaker feels fear creeping in.

The final stanza dissolves the illusion entirely: "Bits of my courage flake away like dandruff. / I'm sweating even as I tell you this, / I'm not cool." The afro, which started as a source of strength, now carries the weight of expectation. The image of dandruff undercuts the earlier portrayal of the afro as a "black halo," reducing it to something mundane, even embarrassing. The speaker’s self-deprecating confession—“I keep the real me tucked beneath a wig, / I'm a small American frog”—signals the disconnect between the grandiose image of Shaft and the speaker’s own insecurities. The wig suggests a performance, a mask of confidence that doesn’t match his true self. Calling himself "a small American frog" reinforces the diminishment of his once-mythic status, stripping away any pretensions to power.

Yet, in the final line, there is a subtle reclamation: "I grow beautiful as the theatre dims." This suggests that while the speaker may not embody Shaft’s confidence in real life, he still finds a kind of transcendence in the world of film. The theatre’s darkness allows him to dream, to escape, to momentarily inhabit the aura of Shaft. But it also acknowledges that this beauty is temporary—a fantasy that fades when the lights return.

"Shafro" is a brilliant reflection on the tension between cultural expectation and personal reality. Hayes deftly navigates the allure of Black cinematic heroes while exposing the limits of such representations in everyday life. The afro serves as both armor and burden, a symbol of pride but also of the performative aspects of Black masculinity. By the end of the poem, the speaker recognizes his own vulnerability, yet in doing so, he carves out an authenticity that Shaft, with all his invincibility, never had.

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