Skin Colour Poems | Examples


List of Member Poems

Excuses are an accessory to power

Motive:
jealousy twisted into a desire for power,
Systems built from broken trust,
Superiority sourced by those who exude it,
Blood spilled from the hands of those who are black
Empires built from false prophecy
Lies cultivated from the weeds of projected self-hatred
Motive - the white man to appear as the superior race

Alibi:
The fragility of whiteness,
The acidic tears of the white woman,
The weaponisation of power by the white man,
The homemade, home-baked stereotypes - to divide
Propaganda pieced together with the glue of prejudiced policies -
Weaving deceit to narrate harmful ideologies of blackness
The portrayal of victimhood, for the picture of white innocence,
The abuse of power, to abuse black people
Alibi - racial killings masquerading as self-defence 

The defence rests
Prosecutors sweat
The judge, blinded by bias 
The jurors , all white

The verdict:
Not guilty -
By reason of fear of colour
Acquitted
Now freedom awaits -
For the white man, now he can do it again

The prison he calls home

His mind was an abyss
Of emotions 
And endless questions 
Of the world around him

He wasn't much of a speaker
But he was definitely a thinker
His mind was a safe place
Where he could speak freely 
Without being harmed

He hated the outside world 
He was scared if he stepped outside
He was afraid the racists might strike
So instead he would hide
In the comfort of the inside

He focused on his survival
And to him that meant control
Even if his mental health took a toll
This fear for a black person was normal
Living life shouldn't be a struggle 

But he wasn't even safe in his home
In his dreams his fears wouldn't leave him alone 
And when he woke up he was haunted by the nightmares he had come to known
He was also scared to leave his family alone
He was extremely afraid of the unknown
Which led to his need for control

This is what the system does
It instills fear in us 
Until our minds have turned to the darkness
And their hatred consumes us 
Until we are a shell of what was
And that is one of the ways they kill us

Premium Member Imagine

Imagine if the wind didn't blow anymore
or the sun didn't disappear behind the mountains.
Imagine if the barriers didn't exist, 
all free to enjoy what we have been given.

Imagine if our wings had never been cut to be flying above our beliefs.
Imagine if there were no soldiers to be sent to fight,
no men death on the fire line.

Imagine a life with all the skin 
colours making a new flag
standing against the wind
for everybody to kneel down.

Imagine rivers with no blood
but water to run through,
free fish to swim in
playing games for new beginners.

Imagine if we all be embraced
taking appart our differences,
sailing on the same boat
against the cruelty of life. 

Imagine to accept 
the unacceptable
to join hands together 
to be only ONE


My First Crime

At the crack of dawn on a street blanketed with snow,
The shotgun pellets crater my chest, back and thighs,
Thickly the hot metals drove in, each like a harum-scarum driver,
Sputtering my flesh and blood on the ground.

Groaning in pains, thoughts vague as the fitful breeze,
I became weak and frail like the vapor of a vale,
Wrangling over the details of my crime like a grasping pawnbroker,
My limpidity and sensibilities darkened,
Like a puerile illusion.

My mouth agape, clamouring for utterances but failed,
Suddenly, the constable's bug-eyes glazed bewildered, 
Then his slits of lips snarled at my expiring fragments, 
“You motherless and African felon!” 

Tied to the bars, minutes crawled by like years and hours like eternity,
The pains became unbearable and I wished to die
When I felt the mortal coldness of my gloomy soul, like death itself,
It was then the police officer said to me,
"Having a black skin here is your crime".

Crazy World of Skin Colour

Some dark-skinned people seek to lighten their skin colour
By applying skin creams to make themselves fairer
Most of these creams have some chemical matter
That can cause serious health problems later
Their use is common in countries like India
Where beauty and fair skin tone go together
Girls are encouraged to avoid too much exposure
To the sunshine which can make their skins darker

But some white-skinned people who are born fairer
Are not satisfied with their natural skin colour
And wilfully seek more sunlight exposure
To get a tan and make their skins darker
For them, a skin that is darkened looks better
And is more beautiful than their natural colour
Yet, for white people, sunlight overexposure
Can lead to a deadly form of skin cancer

Some animals like to wallow in muddy water
Which when dried can change their outer colour
But this serves as a temperature regulator
And keeps off skin pests of one form or another
Animals do not seek to change their skin colour
To consciously make themselves fairer or darker
Such weird action is purely human in nature
In this crazy world of people's skin colour

Skin Colour

Colour me,yellow,white,black, or red,dont
discriminate me,
For my blood is same like yours!
Just do enough to stamp out,
racism,intolerance and xenophobia.
Respect all nationalities,religious backgrounds,
sexual orientation and ethnic origins.
None of us chose their skin colour,
we found skin colours on us.
They were given to us by the Almighty,
why judging me because of my skin colour;
No one is good or bad on the basis of skin colour.

chipepo lwele


Looking for the formal definition, structure, and history of this poetry form? Visit the Poetry Dictionary entry below. Then return to explore how PoetrySoup members bring the form to life through their own poems.

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