Sekhmet

After the last time of looking in the mirror and despising my Afro-centric features
I brought flames to the barbie dolls I played with when I was a little girl.

I didn't mean to burn the house down, that was never my intention.
I only wanted to burn the raging insecurities that had been stirring within me for far too long.

Then the mesmerizing glow of the flames had me tucked deeply into a trance
The smell of deteriorating wood and hopeful smoke didn't stand a chance to seduce my eyes away from the melting plastic

And I watched her silky, straight, long hair, whither away strand by strand
Her blinding blue eyes popping and gracefully sliding down her face
left satisfaction that ran deep into the factories that forged her

So I ignited her broad body like they did my self hatred
I watched everything fall apart and my breathe grew heavy amongst the thick fumes
Fumes that were far less toxic than the image they force into colorless minds

I didn't mean to burn the house down
But i got rid of the one thing that morphed my perception of beauty into a white man's mind
I didn't mean to burn the house down.