“i’m a brown princess,”
you declare 
as you click, clack around the bedroom
in pink feathery fru-fru mules 
bent construction paper tiara 
     w/glued sequins sits on cornrows
cardboard paper towel wand 
     w/aluminum foil star flits through the air
“well how come my skin’s not pink like 
cinderella’s?”
i continue to fold laundry
“cause God wanted you brown”

you flitter 
on tippy toes
pink feathers fly about 
landing on folded clothes
“no mommy 
     that’s not it 
     God thinks brown’s pretty too”