Colors

You asked me White woman with profound disbelief:

“Why on earth would you wear such bright colors?”

I can see that you truly do not understand,

you, whose pallid complexion and flaccid yellow hair

call for washed out hues and muted colors.

I will try to explain…

I wear red, light red, dark red, blood red, blue red, orange red,

for the fire that burns unbanked in my soul, heart and spirit.

Red for my passion. Passion for life that I like to voraciously bite

and savor like the exotic fruits that I favor.

Passion/love that I have my man, my children, my family and my real friends.

I also wear purple, “tainted” red, for the anger that torches me

when one of you people sees the color of my skin and

think me inferior because of it.

I wear mango orange for the music that animates my spirit:

Konpa, salsa, merengue. Hot, rhythmic and sultry music

that echoes the sensuality of my people,

and our love for joy, celebration, carnival, dance and sex.

Orange is my favorite color (ask my family).

I wear yellow, ochre yellow, mandarin yellow, lemon-scented yellow for the sunshine that I crave and worship,

for the dark burnished gold that colors my skin,

for the warmth of real smiles, cotton-cloud tenderness, deep laughter and generous giving.

I wear blue, tropical sky blue, Native American turquoise blue, deep laguna blue, for the warm and moving body of the ocean of my childhood, and the gloriously perfect island beach days that I left behind.

Mosaic pebbles blue of wildly jumbled flavors (papaya, rum, banana, vanilla, cinnamon) of picturesque Creole words and griot tales.

And I wear pink, stranger. Fuchsia pink like the beautiful hibiscus of my mother’s prized garden whose velvety petals I used to slide on my skin. Pink, hot pink like the chewy honey-sweet candy sticks that my grandmother used to bring me from the open market as a special treat.

Colors, bright and vibrant colors, highlight my dark skin and celebrate it. They are a declaration of my spirit, identity, heritage and personality in a land where few understand them.

I like to wear bright colors because in a land of bleached snow, unrelenting cold and soul-killing darkness, they help to keep me alive.