Maybe

Maybe if I was a little lighter

Maybe if my curls were just a little looser

Maybe if I had a little more ass

Maybe if my figure was a little more curvy

Maybe if the words that escaped my lips were cloaked with a little less accent

Maybe if my bright colored prints didn’t over power your photoreceptors

Maybe if my last name flowed off  your tongue more easily

Maybe if my eyes were as light as the sky on a cloudless day

Maybe if I didn’t have so many scars

Maybe if I was black, but not too black

Maybe if I was African, not too African, but just enough to be labeled exotic

Maybe if I wasn’t kissed by the sun and birthed by mother Africa through blood and tears

Maybe then you would see the shine in my ebony skin

Maybe then you would see the beauty and versatility in my kinky curls

Maybe then you would see the hips that birthed the human race

Maybe then you would see the lips that have spoken words strong enough to break the shackles of slavery and colonialism on two continents

Maybe then you would hear the culture in my words

Maybe then you would see the story my bright prints paint

Maybe then you would be in awe of the folklore that accompanies my name

Maybe then  you would see that my scars represent a happy childhood full of adventure

Maybe then you would bask in the magnificence of African Beauty