Black Beauty

Bronzer

Fuller

Darker

Smoother

That’s what we all want

Ain’t it?

Here she is girls:

Aphrodite

The goddess of beauty

One who would be forced

to bow to an oppressor

In another time and place

With pale skin

and small nose

thin lips

And the bluest eyes to adore

Aphrodite

A Mediterranean goddess of the sea

Not unlike

African queens

Too dark and lovely

For famed designers

Like Versace,

Chanel

or Dior

looking for the palest, thinnest, lightest, of them all

If Aphrodite was Greek

Her skin shone olive brown

Not pale and light

What would be her fate

On a Parisian runway?

Would she be light enough

Or will the melanin blind you

From her beauty?

Dark skin

Full lips

Bronze cheeks

Smooth curves

Not unlike one would imagine

The beauty of Nzinga

Cleopatra

Or Kandace

These queens of old

From the continent of riches

Could be nothing more

Than a girl in the hood

Looking for a blond wig

Because you told her

Dark skin

Full lips

Bronze cheeks

Smooth curves

Could never be the beauty

the world deserves