For My Sister

[vc_row][vc_column][title type="subtitle-h6"]Shine Peter[/title][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column width="11/12"][vc_column_text] [audioplayer file="http://www.uwilluminationjournal.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/03/Shine_Park_For_My_Sister.wav" titles="For My Sister by Shiner Peter" artists="Shine Peter" track="For My Sister"]If they say that you are too dark,pray to the sky to bless youwith stars,so that you may hang them in your skin.[spacer height="20"]And if the hair on your body is black,abundant,above your lipsand between your eyebrowsand down your spine,like a trail to show you the way back home,know that your skin thanks you for protecting it.[spacer height="20"]If they say that you smell like your motherland,claim it is your mother’s cooking, instead.As if home is about the street beneath your shoes­­­­—not the chili powder on her fingertips,not the coriander between your teeth?[spacer height="20"]If they say that you are not welcome here,say that you are the childof six thousand yearsof sun on the salty waters,green like the earth we walk.[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row]