Faded skin by Na’shon Kemp I DIDN’T PICK MY SKIN COLOR you dirty bastards with the beady eyes and the loose jaws. This is to those who run and move quickly from me and my family when they see us in the malls. To those who shoot innocent black people in their sleep and when they are unarmed. To those who for some reason fear us although we mean them no harm. This is for all those who judge and are critics to those who are different this is for all those who are like me: Sick of being judged due to how we look what color we are and not who we can be. Just know this I DIDN’T PICK MY SKIN COLOR , my skin color chose me. I was no flaw by God i'm no abomination. I'm no high liberal waiving his hand. I'm not very fond of the Obama nation. Tense dispense on these words that i'm knocking to ash like it was lint. In lite like a fuse hot fire the mirror shows my muse. My skin is like a shield that protects me from all harm. Huh funny please nobody when you see me ring the fire alarm. I got faded skin and i'm in a faded gym. My fades are jumping around in my mind sorry shades. Im out of lines. I'm parachuting out of a plane without a parachute im parasailing without a sail im dead last in a race my skin color has me leaving a bloody trail. It's my own blood don’t be scared or scarred same word different pronunciation. Either way i'm the one who's always limping. These cynics with their cynicism synthesis my mysticism. Sorry im pissed passed the parenthesis in a sentence full of all caps and exclamation points. Nobody will like this poem unless you felt the same pain. I'm flawless. Crawling past the triple k's like its all okay. no way will I ever be okay. Faded skin, cracked skin, a color nobody ever likes skin. My skins faded and I like it. All you cynics with your half baked cynicism jump off a plane with a backpack full of titanium dipped linens. I didn’t pick my skin color it picked me.