The Beauty in Brown

"The Beauty in Brown"

I didn’t know the depth of my beauty

until I discovered this Caramel Drop,

no larger than the size of the dull point of a

Sharpie tip when it’s been pushed too hard against the paper,

all at the age of Four.

I looked in the mirror,

& saw many shades of brown

in this tiny caramel drop which rests on my smile line,

adjacent to my left nostril.

Disgusted with myself, I associated shades of brown

with things people usually find unpleasant:

fecal matter,

dirt,

the ground we walk on every day.

No matter how much mama told me I was beautiful,

"Unique,"

and looked “just like Cindy Crawford,”

I couldn’t help but wish I could just scratch this caramel drop

0ff my face with my bare nails.

At the age of Twelve,

my caramel drop was the laughing stock

0f young, vanilla-faced, middle school boys who clearly had no taste

for sweetness, or any flavor other than the

bland, bitter, seasonless lifestyle they were raised on.

I was “ugly” to them, so they reminded me, because I had a

"mole" on my skin.

(And it wasn't the popular kind you buy in packs of three at your local bookstore.)

& I believed it.

The soil beneath my feat began to change over time, when

A young woman named after

a flower, one that symbolizes purity, love and rebirth,

told me at the age of Fourteen, with warmth and friendliness:

Alyssa, you are beautiful, I just adore your beauty mark,

as she attempted to gently touch my face.

Little did she know,

she changed my perception of all hues of brown.

It wasn’t until I saw the the color brown for its

strength, power, and connection to mother Earth,

that my taste buds started developing a knack

for sweet, tarty caramel,

and the acceptance of the one that rested on my face.

I then began to notice when looking in the mirror

and taking every photo of myself

that my caramel drop takes a sandy brown color whenever

I apply make-up.

Sometimes it looks like a watercolor of dried up raw umber on heavy, cold

pressed paper when I get too much Caribbean sun .

My favorite hue is when it looks like cinnamon sugar,

and I can share with my nephew,

who has a tiny chocolate chip in the same location on his face,

that his cute countenance is just as delectable

as mine.

He grins,

& he even reminded me one day that I am just like him

because even if I am slightly fair-skinned than he,

I am blessed to be one-of-a-kind, with the small caramel,

Brown drop that

God gently placed on my face with his pinky finger:

& for that,

I will always see the beauty in brown.