Y E L L O W

Camila Jimenez Pol

‘You’re yellow’ they said,

as if my golden-like skin was something to be ashamed of,

as if it was meant to be another colour.

‘Yeah okay you’re just a white girl’ they’d say,

completely dismissing half my heritage,

and insulting the other.

‘You’re white but you’re yellow’

they’d say, confused,

where are you really from,

they’d ask, demandingly.

Trying to box me into something they would understand.

I only wish you could understand,

where this golden came from,

the warm nurturing sun rays

of Latin America,

the golden sands of the Mediterranean,

from the daffodils that grew near my home,

The yellow from my flags,

My grandmother’s latin roots mirrored on my golden skin.

My yellow skin,

is also white.

The white comes from everywhere,

the white sand from the Caribbean beaches,

the imposing white snowy Pyrenees,

The twirling white foam that dances along the mediterranean waves.

So yes, I am white and yellow, and every colour in between.

If only I could explain this love for colours I have to you.

If only you understood that we’re not ‘just’ a colour, but we’re that colour and so much more.

And there’s nothing to be ashamed of,

they’re all colours,

colours to be proud of,

colours to embrace,

and most importantly,

Colours to love.

And only I know,

how much,

I love mine.