Black (Bread) Like Me.

I am brown skinned.
Despite what you say, the color comes in a plethora of shades.
Amazed and outraged, you have to put me in a category
You have the chief authority
and are you one of those who calls
pumpernickel bread black bread?
oh, your eyes must be closed because I am not the color of the street.
So you call me dark skinned and I say repeat??
Like I'm a totally different species...
You say "Hey,Darkie!" and I can't even speak?
I can't even speak.
I laugh and clench my fists in heat
My senses cool me down.
I know that I am brown.
You are pretty- for a dark skinned girl,
what an ignorant thing to say
You are black like me and we are not slaves
I am not out in the field and "lighter" is not a better grade
of shade.
Our price He payed
This is not back way way back in the day
Before the enlightenment of young minds,
Before the betterment of the worse times.
And if I was darker I would not mind.
I would not be down.
It's just the negativeness associated with it is where I don't have the time.



*“I am not tragically colored. There is no great sorrow dammed up in my soul, nor lurking behind my eyes. I do not mind at all. . ." - Zora Neale Hurston