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Deep Within
How dark is my skin, that I was positioned
Right at the back of the dancing platform
Though I had always been a champion dancer.
How dark is my skin,that i had to try
Dresses only of baby pink, peach and white,
For the other colors blended too well with my complexion.
How dark is my skin, that my siblings
Exclaimed imagining how well I could camouflage,
In case there was a sudden loadshading.
So dark is my skin, that my classmates felt awkward to call me their friend,
And believed the melanin of my skin was nothing but dirt.
So dark is my skin, that it seemed,
Even my beauty creams started cursing their lives
For being devoted to such a hopeless case.
How very dark is my skin, that my parents too
Had to edit my picture to 2x brightness
To make it suitable for the newspaper's matrimonial section.
But how dark is my skin that the fairness of my pure heart
Lies diametrically opposite to it on the complexion scale;
Something that makes me feel proud.
And it is through this pride,
That I am going to take a bold stride,
Walk out of the great Hall of Fame,
Punch them square in the face who think my complexion is a shame,
Spread out the eternal message,
That there is no damn linkage
Between your complexion and your qualities.
And for those like my mum and dad
Who readily know this, but like some immature, scrawny lad,
Find it difficult to put it into practice,
Get deflected away to other people's tactics,
In the treatment of their little 'dark' girl–
Pay no heed to other people I would say,
Pay no heed for they do nothing but upset you...
There descend to a level from where there is no coming back,
By calling people 'maimed' in terms of their physicality.
Open your mind eye : see what lies deep within–
Human qualities of love, friendship, fellow-feeling and affection,
Are what that define how fair a dark girl is,
How tall a dwarf is, and how fit is that wobbly obese man;
'Beauty is only skin deep'– the saying is not just a cool ornamentation of your school essay,
It is something,
That proves the existence of human feelings,
That separates us from hungry wild animals,
That helps us realize who we truly are.

© Sukanya Roy
#beauty is only skin deep

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