I wrote this poem for you to remind you how beautiful you are because it seems you have forgotten.
Maybe it slipped your mind.
I just wanted to let you know, that the moment you decided to plagiarize the white girls idea of beauty in the form of hydrogen peroxide- you killed me.
The Sun’s stomach turned the second you destroyed your beautiful complexion.
The complexion it envied from the day you were born.
It always dreamt of having sunsets that plagiarized YOUR skin- not hers.
It wrote you love letters and sent through its rays, the melanin in your skin accepted them gracefully.
But your soul rejected it.
And the rejection killed me.
You always talk about how ‘beauty only comes in one shade but rejection comes in many.’
The day you let the devil touch your skin thinking this way you would be more accepted cause apparently ‘light skinned girls were less rejected’.
Did you forget that you are a black panther?
And this world is your jungle.
Did you forget about the prophetic blood running through your veins and that your African heritage lead you to back to Cleopatra and Nefertiti.
Did you forget that beauty is more than skin deep?
And that your soul was craving knowledge and love.
To make it strong enough to break free from the shackles of society.
Did you forget about the hearts that were illuminated by the brightness of your skin?
Did you forget about the eyes that were mesmerized by its tone and how they longingly wished they could dance the tango with its pigments?
Did you forget that you are a black panther and this world is YOUR jungle?
diaspoRaya 