A Few Shades Lighter
Maryah Byrd 2006 (Georgia)
Some bleach, their skin, while others get a tan,
It’s evident that there’s a bigger problem at hand.
We look in the mirror and we don’t like what we see
It’s always what we don’t have that we wish to receive.
What I have isn’t it and who I am isn’t enough,
so being confident in this world is a little more than tough.
I got mad when I looked too dark and happy when I was light.
Sad when I saw someone lighter than me and proud when I saw someone darker than me.
This skewed way of thinking was me for about three years
because the whole definition of beauty just wasn’t clear.
But dark skin is glowy.
Dark skin is bright.
Dark skin reflects that radiant light.
Dark skin is lovely.
Dark skin is precious.
Dark skin is powerful and dark skin is my family.
We were made to see color and recognize beauty,
but that beauty fades quickly when the broken heart inside of it is prejudice and discriminates.
Dark skin rejects envy, because it doesn’t make space for negativity.
So when they say you’d be prettier if, or you’ll be prettier when
No
I’ll be pretty when I love the skin that I’m in.
About this poem
A poem about colorism
Font size:
Submitted by maryahkaden on February 27, 2023
Modified on March 14, 2023
- 1:07 min read
- 1 View
Quick analysis:
Scheme | ABCDEEFCGHIFFCJCCKCLMN |
---|---|
Closest metre | Iambic hexameter |
Characters | 1,123 |
Words | 226 |
Stanzas | 1 |
Stanza Lengths | 22 |
Translation
Find a translation for this poem in other languages:
Select another language:
- - Select -
- 简体中文 (Chinese - Simplified)
- 繁體中文 (Chinese - Traditional)
- Español (Spanish)
- Esperanto (Esperanto)
- 日本語 (Japanese)
- Português (Portuguese)
- Deutsch (German)
- العربية (Arabic)
- Français (French)
- Русский (Russian)
- ಕನ್ನಡ (Kannada)
- 한국어 (Korean)
- עברית (Hebrew)
- Gaeilge (Irish)
- Українська (Ukrainian)
- اردو (Urdu)
- Magyar (Hungarian)
- मानक हिन्दी (Hindi)
- Indonesia (Indonesian)
- Italiano (Italian)
- தமிழ் (Tamil)
- Türkçe (Turkish)
- తెలుగు (Telugu)
- ภาษาไทย (Thai)
- Tiếng Việt (Vietnamese)
- Čeština (Czech)
- Polski (Polish)
- Bahasa Indonesia (Indonesian)
- Românește (Romanian)
- Nederlands (Dutch)
- Ελληνικά (Greek)
- Latinum (Latin)
- Svenska (Swedish)
- Dansk (Danish)
- Suomi (Finnish)
- فارسی (Persian)
- ייִדיש (Yiddish)
- հայերեն (Armenian)
- Norsk (Norwegian)
- English (English)
Citation
Use the citation below to add this poem to your bibliography:
Style:MLAChicagoAPA
"A Few Shades Lighter" Poetry.com. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 27 Apr. 2024. <https://www.poetry.com/poem/152994/a-few-shades-lighter>.
Discuss the poem A Few Shades Lighter with the community...
Report Comment
We're doing our best to make sure our content is useful, accurate and safe.
If by any chance you spot an inappropriate comment while navigating through our website please use this form to let us know, and we'll take care of it shortly.
Attachment
You need to be logged in to favorite.
Log In