Her Every Feature Except Her Skin
By: Latrie Marshall, 3rd Place Adult Poetry Division
She rejects any man who looks like her
dark
light skin will give her light babies
maybe
she doesn’t want her children to be
hated
berated
humiliated
‘cause of their dark outer covering
protecting her children from verbal abusers is good mothering
the inside matters, yet the outside is what’s seen
the torture and degradation that dark skin brings
she doesn’t want her children to feel what she lived
it didn’t matter how smart and talented she was,
and how much of her kindness she would give
her dark skin kept her chained in a corner
and she wasn’t alone
she was with every other dark girl
who was laughed and pointed at in the world
called monkey, ugly, burnt and black as the ace of spades
the memories of name calling and rejection that would never fade
a husband, who has light skin, will change her life
if only he wants her as his wife
her children can have her every feature, except her skin
light skin her choice of hue
intelligent, beautiful, talented, dark-skinned woman,
his light skin is no guarantee, you must consider the entire pedigree
your dark skin and his light skin may produce children darker than you
then what are you gonna do?
teach them about what you didn’t have
self-love, not light skin
treat them how you didn’t have
compliment the skin they’re in
About the Poet: Latrie Simone Marshall is a native of Chicago pursuing her lifelong dream to become a writer. She received a Bachelor of Arts in Political Science from Dominican University and a certificate in Child and Adolescent Psychology from The Chicago School of Professional Psychology. Recently, in 2016, she received a certificate in Grant Writing from DePaul University to begin her new life journey.