Beauty And The Beast Poem by Roneece Pieters

Brown skin like velvet chocolate with enough power to take me off my feet

Not bright enough to outshine the sun but bright enough to make my world rotate around him

He got a lazy swagger like syrup running down my chin but he's quick enough to keep my smile from falling

A man of few words but he got enough words in his heart to keep me occupied inside, curled up, reading

The longest conversation we had was when our legs were entangled, he breathed in and I exhaled

when we double dated with the sun and moon

The longest conversation we had was in silence, our hearts were mute and our tongues did sign language across silky threads of passion

We were lost in translation because I was deaf and he was blind but our common sense never failed us in matters of the heart…

Bullshit. I'm tired of love poems.

They talk of love like a children's folktale with happy ever afters but

there's a reason Disney made beauty and the beast.

And lately no one wants to be real and talk about the beast

that inevitable monster that sneaks out after you've surrendered your mind, body, and soul.

It's hard to find the beauty in love especially when her face is bruised and her eyes are tomboys rocking sagging pants like nobody's business.

It's hard to find it when he assumes his child is sound asleep and roughly takes advantage of the mother of his children.

Pushing in deep, umph… "you think anybody else can love you like me, huh? "

Pushing in rough, umph…"You're damaged goods, you think somebody else wants you, huh? "

Pushing in… Umph…"You better not be cheating on me cuz no one does it better than me"

Pushing her into unconsciousness… umph… "look at me when I'm talking to you, just wait until I'm through with you"

And at the time, when mom was gone a few days and his lame excuses that she went to visit aunt Shirley often actually made sense.

But the ambulance knew my mother better than I did.

Didn't she know love was beauty and the beast at its best?

The person who used to be her escape from life became the beast she could never escape.

And when she did escape, she shed only one tear.

His 9 never really gave the other tear a chance to fall.

So at age 9, when I saw her dropp to the floor, I cried her tears.

My mother only knew one bedtime story…

Beauty & the Beast.

So subconsciously I knew that would be the story of my life too.

But I refused to make my story end like hers.

I was 23 when I decided to get rid of my beast and 9 when daddy got rid of his beauty

So I did the math and chose a 32 to solve my problem.

I did it for myself and the others stuck in this bedtime story…

I sent the beast away permanently and beauty hasn't really returned to my soul but I can live without that reminder.

Just don't tell me your metaphorical bullshit.

He was brown skin like velvet chocolate with enough power to sweep me off my feet…

But I got to him first.

Call it Beauty vs. the Beast.

The longest conversation of love we shared was when we double dated with the sun and the moon,

He took his last breath and I finally exhaled.

The longest conversation we had was the silence after my gun went mute.

I lost him in translation because my common sense failed me in matters of the heart.