Dark Skin

The taste of your skin is reminiscent of the Holy roots of our kin

Dark skin your fingertips trace a map of the rich history of where our ancestors have been

Dark skin I hold you tight against my belly and my bosom

The feel grounds and gathers me under fertile soil so I blossom

Dark skin your words are like the intricate anatomy of home

Landscapes that spread out as far as the eye can see

Dark skin standing beside you is to be honoured as a queen

Your love and understanding are a soft pillow that rebels the hardness of how this life has been

Dark skin you are reassurance and security

The likes of which cannot be compared

Dark skin your sadness are the cufflinks that tie your heart to your sleeve

Soft and tender I struggle every time you have to leave

Dark skin the only doubts have never come from us

In your subtitle ways and boundless kindness my tainted heart I entrust

Dark skin of your affections the world will never be worthy

I daydream of nursing against my bust the multifaceted hues and shades of a nation

Dark skin for you I was afraid I was not ready

Yet it was the cool calmness of your ocean that incited this quiet devotion

Dark skin my greatest fear is that I will rob you of your innocence

A fatherless past for a daughter who has never been alright since

Dark skin I am certain in being all things for you I will in turn see and feel love

A mending of a life-time of sad skies

Dark skin your light illuminates and the endless loop of my dark thoughts I learn to discipline

Dark skin I will be stronger for you than for me I have ever been