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Poetry

Embracing My Beautiful Complexion: Triumph over Colorist Taunts

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An abstract painting of a figure with a multi-shaded brown complexion, composed of vibrant, overlapping planes of color.

shades of brown

my complexion is better than ever.
a smooth chocolate brown color
but i remember in high school
fellow peers called me blackie.

a majority of african descent
a minority took the piss out of me.
my shade was darker than theirs.

one day i’d had enough.
i retorted back at Colin:

you can’t talk. your daddy so black
you can’t see him after midnight!
childish i know. i felt better. & now,
my complexion is better than ever.

***

another poem by Skendong: sprawling shells

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