Dark Skin Blues

Dark Skin Blues

A Poem by Mary Helda
"

Black is beautiful

"
The pigment of my people as explicitly seen 
Glistening on my skin under the glowing sun 
That printed the color deeper into my skin 
The shimmer attesting to my heritage 
Feeding my desire to break free 
To rip me apart from me 
To tear away the evidence of ugliness 
That was splashed all over my skin 
Tainted,dirty and black 
Exaggerated by mother's local simsim bathing oil 
Evidence to yet the ignorance of my people 
 Yesterday,that charming man said to me;
 "You are pretty for a dark-skinned girl" 
I was enthralled..... 
At least,someone paid me a pleasant hateful compliment 
Usually i am just that black girl 
Ugly to the core 
But that light skinned girl, Oh boy! 
The true definition of an African beauty 
Oh! I am African,alright? 
But my skin is a shade darker than hers 
The melanin of my skin is my shadow 
Lurking around me 
Haunting every inch of me 
My color needed healing 
Only I didn't know how 
And God wasn't helping either 
The thing is!! 
My dark-skinned brother was supposedly; 
An Adonis soaked in chocolate fudge 
But I was different.you see? 
Just like my black ancestral gods 
From the people of the not-promised land 
So I got bundled up in hatred 
My face was adorned in smiles 
But I secretly bred contempt 
My heart became envy's nest  
Poisoning me with bitterness 
Bottling me up in self loathing 
Till I flirted with my imperfections 
They drew me closer  
Teaching me to embrace me 
Revealing my beauteous color,culture,people and heritage 
That was hidden under stereotypical buffoonery 

It doesn’t matter what color I am

I am who I am

And I won’t let the clichéd whispers of society

Fade the beauty that overwhelms me

© 2017 Mary Helda


Author's Note

Mary Helda
Colorism is one of those foul things that is common among black/African people.....the belief the dark sknned girls are not pretty...Oh,in my culture,sim sim oil is used to bath new born babies...it makes them smoother and they grow up with really soft skin but there is also that belief that it makes skin darker...nevertheless,its a beautiful culture

My Review

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Featured Review

I can feel the frustration and hatred and to a certain extent the sadness for all the times this discrimination has taken place with not only you but I am sure countless others as well. Very raw, very powerful and very gut wrenching. I cannot even imagine what you go through, or I am lying to myself otherwise. The write is about snapping at these people, but the verses in the end though, are about the acceptance and taking pride for being yourself and loving yourself ^^ Thank you for sharing ^^

Posted 8 Years Ago


1 of 1 people found this review constructive.

Mary Helda

8 Years Ago

Thank you darling,for reading and the great review:-)



Reviews

Mary Hi. I'm going to disagree with almost everyone here. Not about your sentiments and wonderful phrases. There are some real gems here - I especially like 'flirted with my imperfections' and also the 'Adonis' line that someone else remarked upon. As regards colorism, well I live in a country where white "christians" bit lumps out of each other for years in Ireland, and I read and see on the news where Shia and Sunni are more or less doing the same thing in the Middle East but on a more devastating scale. I don't understand these conflicts; I don't understand the prejudice, discrimination and favouritism that probably lies behind their causes. So I take your word for it that it happens; it's obviously a bad thing. Sadly I'm forced to disagree with your closing statement that we're all one. I wish we were. If you have a moment, take a look on YouTube for a song by Blue Mink called 'Melting Pot'. The only sense we'll all be one is when a Trump-run US takes on a Putin-led Russia and North Korea in a game of 'who blinks first', after which it'll be sayonara world.

For me, however, I found the poem a bit shapeless. I was looking for structure or flow and found neither. If it's prose, write it as prose, in paragraphs. You may disagree, of course. But I think this sits between two stools of poem and prose - of course these are MY constructs. But I think you might have a richer more impactful end product if you followed either of these routes more tightly. A more structured poem would oblige you to think more about choice of words to fit, and when it was OK to break the rule for extra impact. A piece of prose could be totally free form and you could say what you want for as long as you want.

Regards
Nigel

Posted 8 Years Ago


Mary Helda

8 Years Ago

it was meant to be a prose poem but i think i kind of lost the structure. thank you for pointing tha.. read more
Nigel Newman

8 Years Ago

Interesting now to look back on what I said about poem vs prose. As I face exactly this problem with.. read more
Oh Mary, how terrible is colorism and what it can do to people. But black is beautiful and darker skinned people in your country are far healthier. One day we will all want to be black!

Posted 8 Years Ago


1 of 1 people found this review constructive.

Mary Helda

8 Years Ago

Thank you so much Aunt:-)
Wow. This poem is incredible. First of all, I had no idea that this kind of issue existed. You present an extremely powerful description of colorism and its effects on you throughout this poem. Every metaphorical image and personal story reveals a new element of your emotions and thoughts regarding this challenge that you face. I am impressed by your ability to so honestly convey such profound emotions. Excellent work, and I will be praying for you!

Posted 8 Years Ago


Mary Helda

8 Years Ago

Thank you so much my dear...your words mean a lot to me:-)
Life is a rainbow, every color plays a vital part of the picture it paints and for any one color to think its self superior to any or all the others is self-delusional. The same white and red corpuscles pump through our bodies, the same double helix pattern makes up our DNA. There is a difference between us and I am not referring to the tint of our skin, I am talking about life styles. Some live with hate, ridicule and racism as their belief system and those same qualities they preach. Pity them for they will never know the feeling of peace and love an open and forgiving heart can bring :~)

Posted 8 Years Ago


1 of 1 people found this review constructive.

Mary Helda

8 Years Ago

Thank you so much Bear...I really do appreciate it:-)
The world is full of prejudices and cruelty whether it be colour or gender preferences, all because people are different. A lovely sad write!

Posted 8 Years Ago


1 of 1 people found this review constructive.

Mary Helda

8 Years Ago

Yes,,,the world is full of prejudice and cruelty.. thank you my friend
I really liked how you started it!
Keep on writing!

Posted 8 Years Ago


1 of 1 people found this review constructive.

Mary Helda

8 Years Ago

Thank you Emily:-)
"an Adonis soaked in chocolate fudge"

wickedly good line...this entire poem is an eye opener or should be...

beauty is in the eye of the beholder...and some just don't behold very well---

whatever shade we are, we are all shades of people inside and out.

and once we can love ourselves...others find it much easier to do the same...and if they don't, that is their loss.

j.

Posted 8 Years Ago


1 of 1 people found this review constructive.

Mary Helda

8 Years Ago

You are definitely right about that.. thank you so much Sir... I really do appreciate it:-)
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mou
Here you give an excellent message by playing with your amazing words.All credit must be given to the purity of soul.Very beautiful !

Posted 8 Years Ago


1 of 1 people found this review constructive.

Mary Helda

8 Years Ago

Thank you my dear:-)...I really do appreciate your honest and kind words
mou

8 Years Ago

you are welcome, my friend..
'Beauty' is a 'white-wash' industry and your well-written poem speaks out against such 'stereotypical buffonery' in people's responses to skin-colour.


Posted 8 Years Ago


1 of 1 people found this review constructive.

Mary Helda

8 Years Ago

Thank you so much Solar
I can feel the frustration and hatred and to a certain extent the sadness for all the times this discrimination has taken place with not only you but I am sure countless others as well. Very raw, very powerful and very gut wrenching. I cannot even imagine what you go through, or I am lying to myself otherwise. The write is about snapping at these people, but the verses in the end though, are about the acceptance and taking pride for being yourself and loving yourself ^^ Thank you for sharing ^^

Posted 8 Years Ago


1 of 1 people found this review constructive.

Mary Helda

8 Years Ago

Thank you darling,for reading and the great review:-)

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996 Views
20 Reviews
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Shelved in 2 Libraries
Added on March 8, 2016
Last Updated on January 31, 2017

Author

Mary Helda
Mary Helda

Kampala, Christian, Uganda



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