Birthmark

“Coffee stain!” the kids remarked.

My lips curl in disdain.

How I longed instead for a beauty mark,

How I long so to be plain.

The colour of earth swathed across my face,

A bold and brazen watermark.

Tarnishing this porcelain skin,

With all the toffee tones of tree bark.

I hid my skin beneath a mask,

Ardent none could ever see.

But as I did,

I also hid the hues that made me, me.

“Coffee stain!” the kids remark.

My lips now curl in delight,

For I’ve learnt these earthen pigments do not bear weight on what is inside.

-DD