Berry Juice

Beauty

Is in the eyes of the beholder

But in a world in which a beholder does not exist, beauty can not but be held by the regale lifestyle that is of high demand in this thing called society.

I'm not talking about the vogue society that says long legs yes, but curves need less because for the majority of us, that's not a reality.

No.

I'm talking about the society that says long legs yes, but melanin less.

The one in which the phrase "you're cute, for a dark skin," is uttered so often that the idea of it being a compliment is a thought that only the vacuous soul would dare to think.

Over and over again

We

As the black society

Allow ourselves to be controlled by the past in which there were no morality.

Where those of darker complexion labored in the sun

Where those of the lighter complexion labored indoors

Lest he

The darker skin

Was subjugated to more of a run.

But you're forgetting

Dark or light, you were still a slave.

Dark or light, you were and still will be discriminated against

So why is being light skinned all the crave?

Naomi Campbell

Tyra Banks

Jourdan Dunn.

Icons in the fashion industry

Women who girls aspire to be.

Women who, by your definition, should not be cute since they are after all,

dark skinned.

Lupita Nyong

Alek Wek

Ataiu Deng

It doesn't get any sweeter

Barely.

My mother told me

"Beauty is on the inside"

So I

grab a knife-

A product of my environment they say-

And hold the blade to my chest

The pen is mightier than the sword

Yet it is the sword that exposes my heart

As the blood I bleed

Paints the picture of who I am

It is my soul that I bleed

And the words I speak

The words you read

are the fragments of me,

my identity

that I shed and leave behind.

How does the completion of my skin determine my beauty?

How does the completion of my skin determine my integrity?

How does the completion of my skin determine my dexterity?

My strengths?

My weakness?

My intelligence?

Why should skin color be keen in determining whether or not you deem the beauty that naturally radiates from my lips

My hips

From my toe

Up to my fingertips,

worth of your time?

I am not my hair

I am not my skin

And I'd be damned if I allowed myself  to be defined your expectations.

No!

I am not just a body

anybody

I am a soul

I am the very definition of power

empowerment

I am beautiful because I am me

Not you

Not her

Not because of the shoes

I place on my feet

Or the crown I wear upon my head

But because of what is held in high esteem on the sides

of my deepest depths.

In my highest horizons

My thoughts

I sheild

With Kinks and turns

With curls not perms

A thick fortress

I bestow upon my nape

A defense against the

dead souls

Whom beauty is all they aspire to be

But what good are my thoughts

If in my head they stay

Bubbling, groaning

Wanting to escape

I expose,

Not only my heart,

But my mind and  soul,

I am a victim

My decapitated body lays

Yet how is it that they hang me?

A headshot to my headless body

But I am not lifeless.

For I am not you,

I am not
her,

I am not my
skin,

nor my hair.

I am not
defined by my environment,

or the
clothes I wear.

The way I
speak is an inaccurate reflection of the accuracy that is me,

I am Me.

A Woman,

A Nigerian
Woman,

A Young,
Independent Nigerian Woman.

A Young
Independent Nigerian Woman who defies each and every Label placed upon her.

I am

Me.

This poem is about: 
Me
Our world

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