La Rana

Frog daughter,

you were so beautiful once

you are not allowed to be natural

nor are you allowed to be artificial

Oh poor tadpole baby,

baptized in rivers of convention before you were born

wondering “why aren’t i pretty”

“why don’t i look like the white girls on tv”

they put borax in the water and convinced you the poison was your fault

until it was a conviction,

until it was pure and unequivocal hatred

told you to “reclaim” your femininity

when you weren’t even aware you’d lost it

they took your skin and sold it back to you at 15% off

they stole your body and your beauty and marketed it back to you wholesale

they ranked you by mid to fuckable—porn category to fetish and now you can’t even exist—

Poor frog daughter,

always watched and never wanted

you were so beautiful once.