Monster Freckle

I got so many freckles,
A healthy coat of speckles,
From knuckles down to ankles,
They cover all my angles.
I have a ton of dots,
But I track the ones I gots,
And I'm sure I've seen 'em move,
A fact that's hard to prove.
Now, say I'm goin' crazy,
That my mind is gettin' hazy,
But things are gettin' stranger,
My freckles are in danger.
A few have disappeared now,
And one got bigger somehow.
At night, I hear the slurpin'.
I swear I heard a burpin'.
Been having trouble restin'
With the noises of digestin',
'Cause a freckle feast is goin'
And the freckle beast is growin'.
My freckles try to run,
But most of them are done.
Where I used to have a ton,
I know soon
All my freckles
Will be one.

-B.C. Byron

I’m a big fan of freckles, but I wasn’t always. I have freckles all over my arms, legs, back, and face. I used to think they looked messy. I would dream about them fading away when I got older, or being able to wipe them off. I even contemplated getting sunburned on purpose so the skin would peel to reveal a freckle-free layer underneath. I didn’t realize that getting more sun just makes more spots appear. I couldn’t get a tan to make my freckles go away either. I envied my sisters that could tan. I tried using fake tan spray that made me turn Cheeto orange for a while. Tan sprays don’t work with my completion. It’s a funny thing we do, always wishing to look like or be someone else.

I found out later in life that there were lots of people that envied my freckles the same way I envied their brown skin. They were wishing to look like me while I was wishing to look like them. In my twenties, I also spent some time living in Korea where there were all sorts of creams, skin therapies, and techniques to make skin more white. I laughed to myself whenever I came across these skin treatments, thinking about the booming tanning salon industry back home in the United States. Same goes for hair; straight-haired folks want curly, curly heads use a straightening iron every morning. This phenomenon of wanting to be different from what we were given seems to pop up everywhere I go.

Now that I’m older and very slightly more mature, I’ve learned to like my spots. My freckles are an important part of me that I wouldn’t want to let go. My live for freckles got even bigger when my children started getting their own. We call them sunkisses and other cute names. I hope my little people can appreciate their uniqueness the way their parents do, before they grow up. There is so much variety in us humans. I hope you can look in the mirror today and admire your own variety. Then you can be ready to pass on the message to those people wishing they looked like you.

Take good care of yourself and, when it comes to changing, focus more on actions than appearance.