brown is the shade
brown is the shade of the soil, on which we step. where life blossoms, in which worms and microorganisms reside.
brown is the shade of her eyes reflected by the rays of the sun;
daughter of the land, she is the pollen of love.
I love the earth she lays upon.
brown is the shade she was ashamed of
words like bigotry were planted in her at an age so young.
sedated by fiends she dug a pit into the soil of the earth,
she built a home upon an alternate version of herself.
she heals from broken promises imprinted by the past.
she soon grows and fosters into the true version of herself.
brown is the shade of a true love of mine,
she is I, and I love her so deeply.
This article originally appeared in Volume 43, Issue 13, published March 7, 2023.
