Red is my favourite colour, I say

The kind of lie that comes bare faced and white

Like the one T-shirt my husband and I argued over the one time

Doesn’t hurt anyone

I do not have a favourite colour, I say

Some truths are just so

Not bitter or painful or hard to say

I like black, I say

Because for the longest time I was taught that black wasn’t it

The colour of your skin determined

what activity roles you were allowed in school

As a black-skinned girl,

you were allowed to be a smart ass

raise your hand in class

Close the term with more than a pass

Play some netball

Volunteer for a stall

Just don’t audition for the MC role

In the play that was every student's goal

Just not yours to take

Or if you do

Audition for the villain role

Black just wasn’t good enough

Don’t wear dark clothes they’d say

They’ll mute your whole existence

But also, don’t make your outfit too coloured

Pink is too girly they’d say – too bright

You’ll look like a badly decorated X-mass tree

See I was never really free

So, I don’t have a favourite colour, I say

I wear black on the days I feel sexy

And red on the days I feel hot and daring

I wear green on X-mas, just because I want to

and get little trinkets and books and bottles and yoga mats - in Pink

Because I need to remind my daughter

That black looks like bravery on her – a beautiful rebellion

And red suits her eyes

And pink is not uncool

She can damn well like it – if she wants to