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Open Poetry #48
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MorningStar
Member
since 2009-10-26
Posts 290
Pittsburgh, Pa

0 posted 2013-03-17 11:36 PM


Out on the playground
On a regular day
Little girls are skipping rope
     And jumping jacks
Busy at little girl play
All sweet
And pretty
In that same little girl way

But only the girl
With her silky braids
Bouncing at her waist
Gets oohs and ahhs
     And "oh my how pretty
     With all that hair 'bout your face"

And the other little girls
     With short puffy curls
Tight little ringlets
And kinky coiled hair
Stop playing their little girl games
     And covetously stare

Thinking
     What about me
     What about by hair
Am I not pretty
Am I not sweet
     Even if my curls don't dangle round my feet  

And in that moment
In that exact place
    An innocence is lost
    And a terrible lie gains say
That there is some intrinsic flaw
    In the way that she's made

Now she'll look in the mirror
But won't see her face
     Only a nappy kinky mess
     Crowding into its place.
She'll spend years hating it
     And her self in a way
Thinking herself less
    And trying to destroy every trace

Straightening it
Pressing it
Shamefully hiding it away
Wishing deep down inside
On every single day
     She was that little girl
     With silky bouncing braids at her waist
  
Out on the playground
On any regular day
If you listen closely
You'll hear someone say
     I wish I had your hair
And meaning all the same
    I don't think I'm pretty
     Since I wasn't made that way

So be careful with little girls
And things that you say
They tend to hear more
Than you'd ever think they may




"I'll tell you how the sun rose
A ribbon at a time..." - Emily Dickinson

© Copyright 2013 Aenea Saunders - All Rights Reserved
JerryPat2
Member Laureate
since 2011-02-06
Posts 16975
South Louisiana
1 posted 2013-03-18 06:30 AM


Yep. People, especially children, judge a person by the way they look to them. There is a saying that children are the cruelest people on earth. I tend to believe that. The reason for that is, I believe, they have no conscience. Hell of a write, MorningStar.


~*~ If they give you ruled paper write sideways . . . ~*~

Victoria
Deputy Moderator 1 Tour
Member Ascendant
since 2000-08-12
Posts 5869

2 posted 2013-03-18 01:53 PM


Some little girls don't realize how pretty they are until they grow up and look back at old pictures. They don't have self confidence in themselves when little.
Nicely done MorningStar.

~Victoria

MorningStar
Member
since 2009-10-26
Posts 290
Pittsburgh, Pa
3 posted 2013-03-18 03:53 PM


Thank you both very much!
It's a very common for many little girls of african descent to grow up with a hair complex.  Many of us from a very young age are taught to completely, repeatedly and permenantly straighten our hair to eradicate any kinky or course curl.  The process is usually very damaging to the hair and scalp - but we do it regardless, as very few of us are ever taught that our hair is beautiful in this natural state.  In fact we're often taught the exact opposite. Of course this effects your belief of your own beauty.  It's very sad...  

BluesSerenade
Member Patricius
since 2001-10-23
Posts 10549
By the Seaside
4 posted 2013-03-23 12:28 PM


Great message.....your poem is so well crafted and speaks to us all on so many levels.  

Excellent writing, Morningstar~

MorningStar
Member
since 2009-10-26
Posts 290
Pittsburgh, Pa
5 posted 2013-03-25 06:02 PM


BluesSerenade,
Thank you so much!

"I'll tell you how the sun rose
A ribbon at a time..." - Emily Dickinson

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