Black Skin

Take me out of this mindset;help me forget myself and what I can never be.

My skin was not meant to be pretty, nor was my hips meant to be small, and petite

So why do I wish for these things everyday.

I had no say in my image, something that was God given.

So why do I hate myself? Look at my reflexion like an antagonist.

Insist  that my lips become smaller, and my hair become more ambiguous.

Wish everyday that I could see more than what my mind sees.

That this girl staring back in the mirror can't possibly be me.

It's funny because I was always told that I was beautiful when I was a child, and I believed it.

But something happened, I realized men's reactions when I wore skin tight jeans.

My mother would scold me, and tell me "You don't know what they see". and she was right.

I was a girl with one complexion, meant to have babies when I was a child myself.

So I tried to shed my skin, "My Camouflage"  but I still couldn't fit in

I guess it's true when they say " blacks have thick skin".

 

 

 

 

 

Comments

thisispoetryproject

The topic of your poem is awesome! I really like the truth in your words-- racism and beauty standards may indeed be one and the same. Great poem!

Despite your awesome words, I found this a little hard to read because some punctuation was out of place. Think of punctuation as a railroad track and your words as the train, it is your duty as the writer to guide the reader and show them where to pause, where to pick back up, separate ideas, etc..

Example: Take me out of this mindset (period)/ Help me forget myself/ And what I can never be.

"Take me out of this mindset" is your first full complete thought so a period is needed. Then, you say "Help me forget myself and what I can never be". Even though these are both on separate lines, they are one thought, one sentence.

I hope this helps! :) Keep writing!

Ifeoma Onwuka

Thank you for your feedback! 

I completely understand where you are coming from. Ususally, when I write it's in the spurr of the moment, so I seldomly ever check for grammer and punctuation. Also when I write my poems, I write them the way they should be read. This usually means in one long sentence without stops, 

Yes, I know this is not gramatically correct, but at the time I probably felt this way-like I could not breath, so that's how I wanted to convey the poem as well. Still, I will definietly go back and work on my punctuation because I do want people to be able to read my poems :)

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