In the vegetable market, an aunty pulls her daughter away
as if my darkness would stain her day
The fairness cream ads flash their promises brightly
my mother says “Beta, everything will be alright.”
In job interviews, they scan my face before my degree,
in arranged marriage photos, they lighten me to set me free.
I wear my father’s midnight skin with silent pride
though the world wants me to lock it inside.
“Too dark for a good match,” the matchmaker declares
while listing my qualities like damaged wares.
My sister scrubs her face until it stings and glows
to wash away the colour everyone knows.
But in the evening, when I walk along the shore
where waves don’t judge or ask for anything more
I see my reflection in the water, whole and true
not a shade to fix, not a tone to subdue
just a human being, complete and
in harmony with darkness and light.
