The Majestic Peacock
Self-Love
*Trigger Warning*- This piece explores topics such as racism, discrimination, violence and death. If any of these subjects affect you, please consider clicking off of this story and reading a different one.
You’re so pretty, wow
Yeah, pretty for a black girl
I’m disappointed
Follow that black girl
Search her just to be sure
She might be a thief
They reach for my hair
I beg, please don’t touch my crown
They don’t understand
The music you like
They’ll look at you
Judge, laugh, cry
“Haha you’re so white”
You’re so well spoken
Is English your first language?
Where’re you really from?
Black is beautiful, they say, black is beauty. If I am so pretty, why do these children continue to compare me to others? They turn us against each other, put us in the ring of fire, and make us fight like wild wolves, tearing each other apart limb from limb until there is nothing left but bones and flesh.
Black is beautiful, they say, black is beauty. If I am so elegant, why can I not walk like The Majestic Peacock and flutter my iridescent feathers along this path that we call Freedom and Equality? People do not admire me. Instead, they frown in disgust, spit at me like I am the dirt on their shoes or the dust on their shelves. You will chase me down my street. You will pluck my feathers one by one till my skin, my history, my roots have been exposed and I am left shivering out in the cold. My only way out will be to surrender or be dead, and I’ll be damned if that is how I leave this earth. You’re mistaken if you thought that I would choose this time, now, to let you drain me of my self-worth.
You thought that I was easy to beat, that I would accept defeat. For I had already been humiliated, violated, and stripped of my dignity. The truth is your words are not original. They’re lazy, tired, repetitive, and I’m tired of interrogating the victims (sigh). The ones who continue to cry out for their loved ones; who die innocent people. Who lie dead on the streets, their faces covered with white sheets.
My voice runs smooth, so clear you can hear, hear every word I say, so don’t you dare question the way, the way that I got here because all that matters is black is beautiful, and it always will be.
Like this prose poetry piece? Have you read my other pieces on the definitions of love? See the other definitions below…
Platonic Love- https://medium.com/@crystaljadalewiswrites/the-weeping-willow-793cf0bde1da
Unrequited Love- https://medium.com/@crystaljadalewiswrites/the-everlasting-flower-6724a37650f4
Unconditional Love- https://medium.com/@crystaljadalewiswrites/a-lone-wolf-f23f92e3bf4f
Self-Doubt- https://medium.com/@crystaljadalewiswrites/a-letter-to-my-skin-eac9756788e9
