This is a Love Poem by Dahlia Tarver, 281

This is a love poem.

I press my pen to the page

And pour out the words

I've longed to say to you.

You are beautiful,

My sisters of color.

I cherish your

Cocoa skin and

Your full lips.

I adore your

Kinky hair and

Your shapely hips.

They crumple your

Paper wings then wonder

Why you can't soar high.

But despite everything

You are still determined

To fly.

This is a love poem,

Years in the making.

I don't want it mistaken

As a plea for a man to

Save us.

You are fierce,

My melaninated queens.

You rub cocoa butter on

Your calloused hands,

Hands calloused from

Fighting a daily war

For your dignity.

I know you're tired.

I can see it on your face

But you refuse to buckle under

The systematic oppression

Based on race.

This is a love poem.

I should have written it years ago.

But as I turn my eyes to you,

I see a sea of brown bodies

Fighting to be free.

I see a sea of people

Fighting for equality.

But this is a love poem.

And so my lips part

To remind the beautiful

brown queens

Of their strength,

Of their power,

And that their voices

Matter.