This is a love poem.
I press my pen to the page
And pour out the words
I've longed to say to you.
You are beautiful,
My sisters of color.
I cherish your
Cocoa skin and
Your full lips.
I adore your
Kinky hair and
Your shapely hips.
They crumple your
Paper wings then wonder
Why you can't soar high.
But despite everything
You are still determined
To fly.
This is a love poem,
Years in the making.
I don't want it mistaken
As a plea for a man to
Save us.
You are fierce,
My melaninated queens.
You rub cocoa butter on
Your calloused hands,
Hands calloused from
Fighting a daily war
For your dignity.
I know you're tired.
I can see it on your face
But you refuse to buckle under
The systematic oppression
Based on race.
This is a love poem.
I should have written it years ago.
But as I turn my eyes to you,
I see a sea of brown bodies
Fighting to be free.
I see a sea of people
Fighting for equality.
But this is a love poem.
And so my lips part
To remind the beautiful
brown queens
Of their strength,
Of their power,
And that their voices
Matter.