Black and Beauty

Mama, please pour some bleach in my bath water

I need to wash this dark stuff off my skin

I need to look like the ladies on the television,

Fair skin, and petite noses

That’s what’s pretty

Mama, please don’t braid my hair like that

I need to wear it straight down my back

No kinks, no curls, no naps

It needs to be longer like hers

And shine in the sun

Mama, my skin is black, hair still in kinks

Why can’t I look beautiful?

Why is it my hair shrinks?

Does God not love me?

Is that why my skin is not fair?