When we were kids we used to climb trees,
Get grubby hands; scrape the skin off our knees.
We jumped in deep puddles and made big mud pies,
But what you said next made me shudder inside.

You sat in the sun; I sat in the shade,
With Mum’s homemade ice cream and pink lemonade.
We shared all our secrets, our comics and toys;
Had the same pin ups and kissed the same boys.

As we sat with our wine and thought of the past,
Of the fun that we’d had; a shadow was cast.
You said I was black and the dirt didn’t show,
I was speechless with shock, but you didn’t know.

As you sit in the sun, turning darker than me
I try to figure out the way that you see.
How do I tell you, will you understand?
An off-hand remark, burns inside like a brand.