For All It Is Worth Here I Am… Poem by Shivangi Chaturvedi

For all it is worth here I am…

I am brown, with beads of black.
I am beautiful, fragrant with anticipation.
I am able, aburst with desire.
I am everything a brown woman should be and is;
A mother, a sister, a lover, a child,
A woman.. Sometimes a girl.
I am brown because it does not define me but I define it.
I am soft and cherished, loud and impressive, impassioned and heard.
I am a brown woman, underneath a Burkha, in a mini-skirt.
What I am is what I believe, not what the world sees.
With an accent, with a demure smile.
I am brown whether Christian, Hindu, Buddhist or Muslim.
I am stunning with green, black and almond eyes;
Pools of life, be it desire, be it purity, be it strength.
I am.. And will remain.. Everything I choose to be