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My mother is peanut brown

My father is cocoa brown

And together they gave me borrowed brown

A brown gifted to me by the sun that has been passed down through the generations by every island dwelling,

sea faring,

mango selling,

church going,

kava drinking,

and night club dancing auntie I have

running through my family tree

My brown is temporary

It's sunlight in a bottle that shines no matter what time of day or night it be

It's my grandmothers warmth passed down to me in the form of the 𝑛𝑔𝑎𝑡𝑢 that hangs on my wall reminding me where this brown comes from -

the mulberry tree that adorns my skin -

that may one day adorn you,

𝑚𝑦 𝑏𝑟𝑜𝑤𝑛 𝑠𝑘𝑖𝑛𝑛𝑒𝑑 𝑐ℎ𝑖𝑙𝑑

ODE TO THE BROWN SKINNED CHILD

ODE TO THE BROWN SKINNED CHILD