random poem of fate

When I was a little girl, people would tell me how pretty I was. It was crazy that I had eyelashes so long & curly. My ears & nose so cute. A smile that could amaze anyone & if it wasn’t for me being dark...I would’ve been a prodigy in terms of beauty that is. I wish to see how my mother would have reacted. Known for her heated manner, she would force them to emend their way of thinking. But instead the child saw her vivacious smile turn into sadness when her daughter asked her why is she not pretty. People do not realize that giving someone’s daughter a compliment & ending it “for a black girl” turns into an insult. How can she protect her daughter from this ignorance when she is surrounded by it in her own school away from her protection. Meanwhile, what does this child have to do to direct your attention when she feels gettered into a corner away from the rest of the kids because she felt heterogeneous from the others. Trying to remember her name spells I-M-A-N-I instead of D-A-R-K-Y. The laughter as a young child turns into tears behind closed doors, but I must stop because I am afraid I might cause more oil spills. Because dark girls cry oil, right? So metaphorically speaking, you are drowning in my oil. Hell, call me BP because my tears have filled you water with dangerous contaminants. Hated the way strangers stared at me because of the image dark-skinned women are perceived in the media. My mother comes in & she tells me that the first time I was placed in her arms, she didn’t see light or dark no rather she saw life, she saw love. She said she gave something to the world worth remembering. Even if she was too dark for them to ever make her feel pretty. So she told me if they won’t let you be pretty then you be breathtaking. When they tell you, you are dark as night tell them that without you the stars have nothing to shine. Tell them you are what they fall for. When clouds get dark they produce rain. Call yourself rain. Because perfection was never your destination but your starting point & I dare anybody to tell you different. Cause I am more than the skin I live in, I'm more than that girl with the more than fair toned skin. & the midst of it all.