Each Night, 

I rub, I scrape

and I fight.

Each night I try

to wash the pigment 

I cry

as my skin begins to redden

I can't take it off.

All of a sudden

I stop.

My flesh is now a wound

At first glance,

You see me , I see you

a n d I a m br ok en

Because my skin is haunting me

and your skin is a token

of good luck and good fortune

While mine means I'm chosen

I fight it back, I'm weak, I tap out.

My skin means I'm chosen for nothing, for failure

for gunshot wounds, teen pregancy, and dropout

 

Each night I rub,

I scrape and scratch

My flesh 

I scrub

One day I hope to bathe in quiet

One day I hope to hear a silence.