Today's poem is by Shikha Malaviya

Ghazal of Skin
       

They tell us to be comfortable in our own skin
This troubled inheritance of more melanin they call skin

Our mothers shielding us from the sun when we are young
We play in shadows, our faces covered, while others flash skin

They'll speak of dark times when a girl is passed for marriage
Or lose the lead in the school play, Snow White, because of her skin

Have you tried drinking milk with saffron or rubbing lemon
A paste of turmeric, grandma say, brightens the duskiest of skins

Separate water fountains and bus seats for those with color
How we've fought by the skin of our teeth to let go of this skin

Come, see how we carry the night on our bruised shoulders
Where constellations burn bright in the beautiful dark of our skin

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Copyright © 2024 Shikha Malaviya All rights reserved
from

Nũr Mélange: A Ghazal Anthology

Glass Lyre Press
Reprinted by Verse Daily® with permission