Debra and the Lane  

We rode through the lane

The trees towered above our smooth Cadillac and those trees would sigh standing tall on the grassy boulevard

Autumn leaves changing from yellow to a crisp brown were falling, falling to the pavement would now scatter and whirl 

My pretty Black Mother was the Diva of practicality whose words were like ice splintering were stinging my soul and my sensitivity would gush; the hurt made my brown eyes water 

My pretty Black Mother wore gold shimmer on her lids and her full lips were painted burgundy on her liquid ebony skin

Her relaxed hair brushed into loose waves was coiffed 

My ebony eyes were doleful with melancholy’s smattering 

 I am not a Black princess!

 I am not a Black princess!

My Mother and Father

The King and the Queen in an interracial marriage 

I was their biracial daughter with bushy pigtails that were wild, and all of my feelings were crashing, crashing and churning like storm clouds in the heavens, and I was a fragile biracial child painted in Black and White

I was silent in the car I became a sullen Black girl 

Debra and the Lane

I realized I was not a Princess 

Instead, I was a masked interracial child in a plaid jumper in shades of gray and my textured hair was in long ratted pigtails that were messy as the rain would fall from the clouds drifting would cry aloud

It was our weather

The sun hid behind the church steeple would smile on our neighborhood

I love you Mom 

I am not a Black Princess!

I love you Dad

I am not a Black Princess!

My childhood was foreshadowed by the beckoning water as my brown skinned Mother whose skin was like the depth of umber took care of me with my father from a foreign land

My brown eyes were taking in the scenery of our lane as my Mother Drove down the quiet lane

As the trees questioned my existence 

My eyes met the church spire, and I notice the rain falling in sync with my pitiful dread and my eyes were at an occidental slant

I got an “A” on the spelling test

I love you mom 

I love you Dad 

I am not a Black princess!

I am a mood

  

 By Tiffany Haty

 April 20th 2025