Monday, October 1, 2012

Dark Skin


MELLOW YELLOW MONDAY

DARK SKIN

It always seemed so odd to me.......white people had a plan
To get rid of their pallid skin and get a healthy tan.
No-one actually said out loud 'Dark skin is more appealing',
And yet the very fact we tanned was really quite revealing.
When I was first in Africa and one of 'the master race'
(For it was the 1950s and everyone 'knew their place'!)
I used to smother myself with oil and end up ruby red
And then I'd peel and blister and wish that I were dead!
The Africans had unblemished skin, and tans that were divine,
Yet I still felt superior in the white skin that was mine!
Skin-cancer was unknown to us; we laid out in the sun
And boiled ourselves like lobsters until we were nicely 'done'.
And then we'd suffer agonies as we tossed and turned at night.
Yet still we felt superior because our skins were white.
Now times have changed for the better; we no longer look at skin!
We're more inclined to judge a person by the 'man' within.
We think black people fortunate because of natural selection;
Their skins are absolutely right for giving them protection.
The dancer in the pose above has skin like velvet honey.
She can cope, and I cannot, with a climate that is sunny.
*
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FENCES

Fences, once so firm and stout,
Keeping in and keeping out,
Fences, once so tall and strong,
Holding things where they belong,
They will crumble, they will rust,
They will fall into the dust.
Every human edifice
Will end like this, will end like this.
*

4 comments:

Tulika Verma said...

made me smile! :)

Liz said...

What a beautiful post!

Liz @ YACB

lina@home sweet home said...

Like reading your words. That's absolutely true. I'm not white or black, my skin tone tends to light brown. Yet, whitening products are still very desired here.

FM said...

Lovely post!