Stain

In my country, women wear long sleeves and gloves

To shield their delicate skin from the sun.

They take milk baths and have chemical peels.

"You're so kamao*," mum would say,

Like it's a stain I can rub off in the shower.

Do you know how much people pay for a tan like mine?

"You have aik roi* all over your face,"

I love my freckled skin, kissed by the hot Australian sun.

My moles are like constellations all over my body.

"In Cambodia, they would think you’re poor.

Only farmers have your skin."

Then I am proud to be a descendant of generations of farmers

Who ploughed the fields that fed hundreds and thousands before me.

This brown skin tells stories of endurance, resilience and sacrifice.

When the sun set on them, it dawned a new light on me,

An inheritance of an old beauty that you call shame

And I call privilege.

*kamao - Khmer for ‘black’ or ‘dark’

*aik roi - Khmer for ‘fly droppings’