Her skin is noire     purple undertones
Glistens like black sand on a beach     sun beaming down at half past noon
Her brows lifted in a striking arch
Cheekbones that are chiseled
Jawline sharp  and defined   framing her features
Knotless braids cascade past v-tapered shoulders
She is art personified  

But when she sees herself in the mirror
Pain rushes forth from her throat    a guttural cry
She cannot silence the voices that scream
                            Too black
                                            Ugly
                                                     Monkey  

By the time we meet
Shards of her confidence
Scattered across the floor
A broken little girl  

I want her to see herself
As I see her
Stunning  

Together we open the pages of
The Skin I Am In
Discover a story that mirrors hers    and mine
A school aged girl caressed by the Egyptian god of melanin
But confronted with colorism   bullied for being too black
A teacher who is mocked
For her facial features   a blotch of white on her ebony skin  

We continue turning the pages
Until we reach the story’s end
She now looks in the mirror
And declares she loves
The skin I am in