By Kayssie K of the Royal Integrity collective in response to Afua Ansong’s poems.
My melanin is not enough to hold my culture.
My tongue has betrayed me between its spills,
Now I’m a new shade of grey
That no one understands.
I am a culturati,
Denied of her passion
Perhaps, I lack rhythm,
My being no longer holds the buzzing hums of my ancestor’s hymn.
My lips have sold their own brother
Like the sons of Jacob,
Now I wear the coat of many colours,
Disdained of my own.
This is a sciamachy —
That my skin cannot conquer.
I will never be
right kind of
Earthy —
To belong.
