160: fakeup

blurring the shadows from the past sleepless nights
lining soul’s windows with the cattiest of sights
flicking off the ends, 'few times for good measure
to last all through the day in pain or with pleasure
plucking the follicles that have grown astray
filling in the gaps left behind by d.n.a.
staining the pale from being pursed for too long
plumping them with shades they keep on saying are wrong
powdering the rest, especially the spots
gathering the loose strands and untangling the knots
staring at the reflection, wonder with dread:
am i seeking attention by looking less 'dead'?


2019-03-27 2.10pm

151: Qu Penat

They say,
'Beauty is in the eye of the beholder'
but

I’m constantly reminded
that those who are darker 

are still made to remain in the shadows,

that some browns are more beautiful than others.

I’m getting tired of all this obsessing
over mothers not trying

to ensure their embryos are whitened
by bingeing on soy rather than caffeine.

I’m tired of capitalists mindfucking
those who are already struggling
over our worths as a human beings
still very much determined
by the shades we were born in.

I’m tired of celebrities promoting
lead in what we’re wearing
and mercury in what we’re swallowing
and that we keep paying

them to kill us from within.

I keep on wondering
when we’ll finally be accepting

regardless of the color of our skin

and when we'll see that melanin 

is a gift, rather than keep scrubbing
it off like a curse for existing.


2018-02-16 7.29pm