Alisa Muniz Blanchard copyright 2014
When I was born
my body was white
where you could see
a costume perfect
for hiding all the
dark, “dirty” crevices
and folds of my body
covering my secret,
I am one of “those”
you speak of
just before telling me:
settle down
why are you upset
you are not really like “them”
and what it all meant
was lost to me
as I dressed in my whiteness
my whole life dreaming
through the silence
denying the colors of my body
“they” strive to honor
“they” strive to embrace
in the absorption
of being
not really
like “them”
I stopped being
like me.
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