The Color of Me by Diana Tenes

The color of my skin is the color of the whole world

It's the face people recognize from every land mass, continent, that is and is not theirs

I am the woman you recognize

I am a multitude of faces from different countries, languages from places I have never been, yet I am familiar:

Africa, Argentina, Brazil, Costa Rica, El Salvador, France, Germany, Greece, India, Iran, Israel, Italy, Mexico, Phillipines, Portugal, Puerto Rico, Russia, Saudi Arabia, Spain

They swear I am from "Their country"

They speak to me in "Their language"

They say"I have a cousin that looks just like you!"

They are saddened, embarrassed, shocked when I say -

"I am not!" I do not understand." "I am not from there."

My speech clearly says - I am American in perfect English

Yet being American means little, when I look like I do, when I have color to my skin

American woman, I am that, but I am from somewhere else!

"Where are you from?"

I am perpetually tan, skin that deepens to a rich brown in the summer then fades to light olive in the fall

It's a color the makeup counter could not match

A color that mystified the most experienced cosmetic manager

The color that matched - was discontinued

I was the color that was custom created that still didn't match

I learned to mix my own colors, dark and lights, just like what I was

Peachy pink with drops of dark brown

The color of my skin, that is from the whole world

The face that is recognized from every land mass, continent,

That is and is not theirs