I always admired how she walked through the floors of life,
like her ancestors had not spent years mopping the dirty tile
floors of a white man’s home
how she had not feared anything in the world,
as if years ago anyone who looked like her had not experienced
torture, been hung off of trees, lit on fire, and beat to death
for their skin being a flawless, beautiful brown color
how she managed to love everywhere that she went,
like the white race she was surrounded by did not hate the
guts of her entire bloodline so much that they wanted them
destroyed
how she woke up each morning and put on a smile,
as if her mother had not cried rivers of tears
as the white man hollered degrading comments, told her
beautiful brown child she would mount to nothing more
than a piece of crap
I admire her
I admire the way she struts the grounds like the pavement
ought to be lucky that its surface met the heel of her foot
how, how she moved so fearlessly, trusting that there is
nothing more scary than a beautiful, brown woman who had
been told she was nothing, yet still knows she is It, and more
how she wore love like she wore clothes, and when she walked
into the room it was known that she represented a love so hot
even the devil wouldn’t reach for that fire
how she carried a smile so big and bright you would think
she was sitting on top of the world despite being told she was
at the bottom of the pyramid, she went and built pyramids of
her own and let her feet dangle off the very tip-top
she built pyramids of her own and I admire her
carefree brown girl
litHerature
Pitched Entry
