Box of Colors

If I paint my skin yellow will it satisfy you

If you saw me black & blue will that satisfy you

All my colors seem to offend you

It seems like who I am you don’t like

What I think you contradict

Tell me what is the cause of your disrelish

Is it

The way the feathers on my skin flourish

Perhaps these lips might be to plump

My eyes to dark to deep

My hairs to untamed to wild to free

All my colors seam to offend you

My story is long and my colors run deep

Perseverance is what I paint myself with every day

To persevere is what will paint me to you a different color than what you paint me to be

To persevere is what will help paint a way for my race, my people, the colors you’ve painted us be

I have been drawn with hate so dark you see no light

Pain so old it’s second skin

I’m like a match ready to ignite

My fire is lit

I open my box of colors to find it full

With every hue

I have been drawn with love so deep you only see light

Every color you think, I have been drawn

Every color you can think, I have been drawn.