Awarded the Indigenous Poets Prize in the Youth (Arizona) category
Close-up of Conversion by Thomas “Breeze” Marcus
Brown
I have brown eyes and brown hair framing my face
Tanned, browned skin, thanks to my race
Not many good things are brown when you’re a kid
But as I’ve aged, brown’s not always “stupid”
Brown’s the color of boxed chocolate from Valentine’s day
It’s the color of my art class clay
It’s the color of my dog’s fluffy fur
And under my feet the beloved earth
Brown’s the color of that coffee after a 12-mile bike ride
Or the branches of the tree where I’ve always liked to hide
It’s the color of protein bars before lifting weights
Then browned book pages, one of my favorite candidates
Brown’s the color of my “clear” phone case, damaged from the sun
It holds all sorts of important things I’ve chosen
Like sticky notes, movie tickets, and gum wrapper hearts
Maybe it’s not so bad being built of brown parts
—————
Raine Huelskamp is a sophomore in high school from Arizona. Aside from writing poetry, her other interests include playing clarinet and bass clarinet in her school’s concert and marching bands.