I don’t just dance
And prance around this pretty stage
Like a little brown ballerina;
The palm trees taught my hips to sway.
I wear their leaves in my skirt
And flirt with sunlight like they do
With its oil on my skin
So that I not only move,
I shine
Finely in the eyes of those
Who find my brown skin beautiful.
I have the ocean in my veins
And sunshine in my hair,
Playing in my curls,
And though I don’t have that cocoa blend
My ancestors did,
I am Polynesian
And nobody can say that I’m not.
I don’t just dance
To take my stance on a dashboard;
I move to the rhythm you hear
And I feel.
With my body I translate my culture
So that you better understand
Where I come from
And what my side of the world is like,
With our little islands and big hearts
Where we sway and shake and stomp,
Passing our traditions to our children
And showing those who’ll watch
That we don’t just dance.
