Sorry, Wrong Color©
~Written by: Arose N Daghetto
Yesterday I paid a visit to my local library.
I browsed through some Poe,
shook down some Shakespeare,
and caught a chill off Chaucer…
Awakened by the Chinua in my Achebe,
I relived August in some Wilson,
took out a few Counteé Cullen’s.
Leaving a few Dust Tracks on the Road
and a Rage in Harlem,
I found my Native Son
leaning against A Raisin in the Sun.
I gazed at my Beloved with the Bluest Eye
and was prepared to praise him all the way home
in The Color Purple.
Blessed with a tote bag full
of History’s finest literature,
I was about to hike it to the circulation desk
when I saw this Pharaoh beauty
browsing through a book two aisles down.
He was the personification
of all the alpha ingredients
that a real man could supply
this thirsty bookworm
ounce for ounce, good to the last drop.
God created him immaculately
from head to toe.
His dewy skin was rich like Egyptian toffee
and his twisted coils were bronzed
in kisses of mahogany.
Sorrow blanketed my heart
when I saw his woman
shouting at him in whispers
He didn’t flinch though
He just kept quiet, leafing through
Eldridge Cleaver’s “Soul on Ice”.
The more he kept his peace,
the more she unleashed war.
She swung her bone straight mane
over her delicate shoulder,
revealing her milky beige face
marred with exotic African features.
Anger twisted the beauty
right out of her supermodel face.
Her fashion chic clothes hugged
her flower vase physique,
giving all the praise
to her generous posterior
hot off the assembly line
of her Yoruba foremothers.
Unable to tolerate being invisible
in front of her lover a second more,
the irate beauty flipped her hand in his face
and stormed away.
That’s when I,
being the fearless bronze sista I am,
approached the humble brother close enough
not to invade his personal space.
I said hello, he smiled.
I gazed at him, he gave me the once over
finding my thickness acceptable.
The corners of his lips
curved into an upside down smile.
The corners of mines curved sunny side up
into a ego trippin’ smile.
His eyes peaked with interest
for a fleeting moment
before retreating back into the unknown.
I told him my name, he murmured his.
I swallowed hard… the silence was cold.
I noticed him staring into space.
I wasn’t sure if he was daydreaming
or about to go into a seizure.
Whatever was going on with him,
he stayed like that for a while.
I followed the direction of his ogling stare
to the end of its trail
where a virginal black beauty stood
staring dreamily back at him.
Her complexion shined like an onyx gem.
White pearls for teeth embroidered
her plush, satiny lips.
silky Bantu knots sparkled like ice crystals
on top of her head.
Her deep mystical eyes were hypnotic
like blood diamonds.
She had a figure so petite, so graceful
that it could be immortalized on canvas.
Her sleek, elongated arms and legs
were like whips of lust
leaving welts of desire all over
my Pharaoh beauty’s heart.
Before I could attempt to win him over
one last time
he excused himself
and walked over to the stallioness
waiting patiently for him to make his move.
My heart thumped like it was on life support
when I saw him lock arms
with this island princess
As the prelude to their storybook romance
unfolded before my eyes
he looked back at me and said,
“Sorry, wrong color.”
…Ain’t that a bitch.
Poem (not pictures) © Copyright 2011 by Arose N Daghetto for Quiet Storm Enterprise.
All Rights Reserved.
Literature Voodoo 