Miss Rock-It

Beauty in Black I
by Jay Allen Bakari





























Apply
thin
blot,
and rock.

She walks like she's two rivers

pancake on smooth sable skin
a mirror thin image
covered by provocative eyes
with lashes so long
they whip her cheeks

she prides herself on having the fiercest face on the planet
She has them all
mango melange
seductive sultry
and indigo moon
crush groove
and sea mist

her eyes are slopes for shimmering
shades of sparkle

she walks with a rock
like she's got otis redding and johnny cash
up in her jimmy choo's

while others peruse and use
she's powder set midnight hues

because after all, she is still a southern lady.

healthy and heady waves of black thunder
chorus down her back
in coal black
and yes, she will tell you, she bought it--

the only woman on the plane in a white linen pantsuit in November

the flash of her face catches the eye
like golden glints in a riverbed pan
and everyman in fantasy land gives her a standing
ovation with his gaze

and yet, this one, she does not
know the beauty that she craves
and this life does not save
her aching soul

a life of unfulfilled dreams
lay shattered in shards on
a staircase
as she tiptoes over the image
of her five year old self
in her mother's shoes
as he coos
and
makes her dress up like
vanessa williams

But today, her face is fierce
and her walk rocks
lowlifes in high heals

buying little bottles of light
to warm the inside
hoping that she may catch a glimpse of herself
in the glow

but she doesn't know
that God will heals scars, even covered ones.
And she is still fierce despite her flaws