There was once a girl

There was once a girl 

who smelled of coconuts

fresh guavas, green palm trees, and golden dewdrops 

She had big eyes the shade of warm cocoa beans 

That glistened and sparkled like the tiny sea glass she kept in a jar next to her bed

Her skin was a tawny color much like a lion's heavenly coat 

The blood inside her oozed the drumming of African descended drums 

Her tongue spoke the language of a culture that was enslaved, starved, and reduced 

to near extinction. 

That girl would smile from cheek to cheek, unafraid to hide her crooked teeth 

She laughed wholeheartedly, a sweet melody that shook the leaves of the papaya trees 

Her onyx mane looped and coiled wildly around her small face

Forming a spiraling labyrinth much like the solid iron chains used to strangle the words

of her people, her kind, her blood 

There was once a girl

whose purity and delicacy was unstained by the grim of the world

outside of the shores of her exotic home 

That girl doesn't exist anymore.

At the age of seven,

she was taught the art of disappearing. 

She was taught how to erase the sun off her skin 

At seven, she rubbed the potion that would make her perfect on her arms, legs, and face

A whitening cream. 

She applied it faithfully every morning and every night 

At nine,

her mother slapped the vulgar behavior right out of her mouth 

She now dapped the corners of her mouth with a napkin and sat cross-legged in the presence of men 

She let the men speak first,

her petty troubles were trivial in comparison to theirs

At twelve, 

her mother scheduled her first hair appointment 

her once coiled strands were being burned and pressed straight 

her hair no longer smelled of honey and lemon

but of Pantene and Tresemme 

At fifteen, 

she didn't eat flourless coconut cupcakes and caramel pudding anymore 

she now pinched her stomach and drank teas to get the ideal waist size 

She only ate one meal a day. 

At sixteen, 

she now only speaks English

She no longer remembers the name of the street she grew up on

Now the memories of what was once a home have slowly faded away.

There was once a girl

who smelled of coconuts, fresh guavas, green palm trees and golden dewdrops.