Does my skin scare you?
Does its olive tones stir up
A fear so cold
It makes your own turn blue?
Or is it the scarf I wear
To hide my dark-hued hair?
Your eyes betray your fear,
So bold,
And the whispers that follow your stare.

Does my skin scare you?
Does the darkness that was given me
Make you shake
And send shivers across you?
You hate and then you don your cap
Of white and so go forth to snap
And break
The souls of my dark-skinned kin.

Does my skin scare you?
Does its blemishes of bloody red
Push you away,
Scaring and sending children running too?
You avert your eyes, look away to the land
But your shudder and the wring of your hands
Betray
What your eyes dare not show.

Does my skin scare you?
For it is only skin: not my heart,
Not me,
Or anything that conveys what I am to you.
It’s just another physical thing,
A first impression, like make up or bling.
So see
Who I am, and not the extent of my skin.