Will my dark complexion betray me?

will My dark complexion betrays me.

Will The streets and houses reject me.

The cafes and alleyways disown me.

What have I done to deserve being cast out by my own country?

And being expelled from Arab lands and refugee camps?

Did I wage war?

Did I sow death, displacement, and homelessness?

Did I kill people in every house?

Or stone the living and the dead in their coffins?

What have I done other than be Sudanese?

And my dark complexion is my nature?

And kindness and tenderness are ingrained in my very being?

I am the descendant of ancient glory, the spirit of pride in my very being?

I am the honored and compassionate one, the nurturing mother?

I am the one who quenches the thirst of dreams in the cup of progress, the epitome of youthful vigor?

And when the great multitude faltered, I spread my wings, carrying my pledge on my shoulders, and I dusted off my pens and inkwells.

I write my story.

Do not blame a dark-skinned woman for me, or a fair-skinned woman for me, but blame this injustice.