Unafraid of Colour

July 8 2017

The African women

who display themselves

as if they were gift-wrapped.

Unafraid of colour,

big women

in long sarongs

and flowing robes

and pyrotechnic wraps.

Who are proud

and loud

and laugh from the belly.

Who wear hats

like great tropical flowers,

dance

so lightly in the heat.

But also modest

in the way she covers herself,

from dashiki, kanga, kitenge

to gomesi, djeballa, kikoi.

No skin

to pander to the male gaze

subvert her mystery.

Yet who among us, who sit in judgment

could claim her confidence,

flaunting primary colours

and fabric by the yard?

Here, in the monochrome land of snow.

Of matching skirts

and business suits

and sensible shoes.

Of crop-tops

short-shorts

and washed-out jeans

in shades of denim blue.

Of conformity, apology

the pinched averted gaze.

Where we could use

some extravagance, and dazzle, and clash.

The ecstatic belly laugh.

The art of daily life.