The colour of copper.
The
colour of brown.
The
colour of chocolate.
But
you colour me down.
Sensuous
as the land,
stunning
as the light,
I
am ebony’s birth
through
the still of the night
but
my fingers you take
for
my richness to hide
cursing
it as folly
taking
my pride
smearing
your hate
independent
of me
taking
my life
cells
dying in me...
I am
your living heritage
your
genetic fame
protector
of your being
still
my dignity you claim
I
try not to shout
although
you are wrong
I
know you only sing
what
society has sung for so long;
I
am all yours
though
you dislike what you see
you dislike what you see
failing to comprehend
You hurt you when you
hurt me.
The
colour of copper.
The
colour of brown.
The
colour of umber.
Yet
you colour me down.
From
ages since
cotton
first grew
when
the colour of milk
meant
the privileged few
where
the colour of tan
meant
poverty’s brew
this
concept
is present in all races
is present in all races
not just unique to you...
My
shades are all elegant
not
only a few
I
celebrate the diversity
of
my glorious hues,
where
a positive remark
lends
a negative shade
when
you’re black but pretty
instead
of black and beautiful all the same,
when
someone who is
the
same race as you
calls
you inferior
forgetting
they’re shaded too.
Even
King Solomon,
suffered
you see
when
he wrote in his Songs
I
am black but comely..
Colour
me copper.
Colour
me brown.
Colour
me chocolate.
But
don’t colour me down.
This
burden has continued
because
we accept
a lie that was forged out
of
spite and death.
Is
it because we were taught
from
the crib to the door
That
this God-given tone
was
not given to princes
but to the poor?
but to the poor?
My shades are all elegant
not only a few
I celebrate the diversity
of my glorious hues.
When
you look at yourself,
what
is it you see?
Do
you see just a colour
or
the heart that’s beneath?
Do
you see the beauty
I’m
certain I hold
Or
do you just see a colour
offensive because of its tone?
How
horrible it is
to
cover a gem
that
has no idea
of
its brilliance outside and within…
If
I could only convince you
of
your beauty untold,
that
mahogany smile
this
caramel zone...
There
are
emperors and empresses
emperors and empresses
who
are represented through you
lying
dormant inside
but
you colour them down too!
I
can only do so much
I’m
just the skin that you wear
that
will eventually rebel
from
the core of your fear
of
being just who you are
a sight to behold
wonderfully
fashioned
of
copper and gold
So...
silently I'll sit
No
crying, no pleas;
waiting patiently
for the day
my
people choose to proudly wear me
no doubt
till then I'll suffer
till then I'll suffer
holding
on
steadfastly,
steadfastly,
trapped
in the oppressed
Cages
of your
scarred mentality...
scarred mentality...
The
colour of copper.
The
colour of brown.
The
colour of chocolate.
I
am beautiful.
But
You...
You
You
colour
me
down…
My
Inspiration: A little girl on a bus ride home. (2014)
Coloured Skin (3rd revision)
© KohylahPiper 2015
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