Brown Queen

"BROWN QUEEN"

Poem derived from my first completed journal, Black and Blue (2018-2019). Written March 22 2016.

~~~~~~~

Beautiful, brown queen,

with your gorgeously glowing skin

and your immaculately brilliant

smile,

you are worth more than the

three tired pages that they

devote to you in the history books

and your teacher recites the same

Rosa Parks quotation that

you've heard every year

just to clear his conscience.

You deserve three hundred and

Sixty five days of

appreciation,

gratitude,

love.

Beautiful, brown queen

with your gold brown, auburn,

jet black, reddish,

curly, kinky, twisted, strong locks,

you are worth more than the

$150 flat iron your mother

bought for you

because .the Kerry Washingtons

and the Nicki Minajs all in the media

have convinced her that

the roots you were born with

are not worthy of being praised.

They don't need to be tamed.

Set them free.

Nourish your roots

Allow them to show the world just how regal,

unique,

and transcendental

you truly are.

My beautiful, brown,

African, Latin, Middle Eastern QUEEN:

You are the school girl waiting

for the bus this morning.

You are the single mother who works three jobs

just to give your sons and daughters everything you

never had.

You are the brilliant college student who aspires to bring

more peace and unity into this unfathomable world.

You are the woman reading this.

You are the human listening

right in front of me.

Let not a soul try to stop you

from loving yourself

and your fellow brown women, too.

Beautiful, brown queen,

the next time you start to shed a tear

or someone tries to make you feel,

insignificant,

straighten the crown on top of your gorgeously braided

hair,

look at yourself in the mirror,

stand tall,

and remember this:

God modeled your melanin

after the trees that slowly rock back and forth during

a windy day.

You are the breathtaking reflection of the

Mother Earth,

of the Universe's most vital creations.

This world would be NOTHING without you.