I found the following treasure at a school bookfair eight years ago. It was buried in a book titled “Through Our Eyes: Poems and Pictures About Growing Up“. I probably picked the book because it had “atypical” (not the usual blonde-haired and blue-eyed) girls on the cover. To see this, I knew it was intentional. I was happy to see children of different races and ethnicities represented on the pages. The book is filled with sweet poems, but we have especially enjoyed this one:
Lisa
by Beverly McLoughland
Lisa’s father is
Black
And her mother is
White,
And her skin is a
Cinnamon
Delight,
Her hair is
Dark
And her eyes are
Light,
And Lisa is
Lisa,
Day and
Night.
And Lisa is
Lisa,
Night and
Day,
Though there are
People
Who sometimes
Say–
Well, is Lisa
That,
Or is Lisa
This? —
Lisa is
Everything
She is.
Lisa is
Lisa,
Day and
Night,
And her skin is a
Cinnamon
Delight,
And Lisa is
Sun
And Lisa is
Star,
And Lisa is
All
The dreams that
Are.