dark brown eyes
which you could easily mistake
for black
from a distance
like she did
when he caught her looking

a perfect, smooth face
not particularly tanned or pale
animated and honest
an open book
sincerely authentic

you can tell exactly what he's thinking from his expression
she likes to think that they share the same thoughts
and that when he looks at her that way
she knows what it means

she likes how
his head falls back when he laughs at something funny
which he's constantly doing
how his body shudders with hysterics
she too can't help but laugh
even when she misses the punchline

and his freckles
she breathes deeply
his skin, peppered with
charming brown little freckles
she wonders what it would be like
to trace their outlines with her fingers

those are the nice kind
she thinks
she wouldn't usually count freckles as
an attractive quality
not like hers
tea-brown stains on chalky skin

but on him, they're lovely

My mom once told me that freckles were angel kisses
Because around age seven other kids would ask me why I had dots on my face
As I grew older I soon realized that freckles were not actually angel kisses
I found out the cause of my freckles was from the lack of melanin I had in my skin
Every time I went under the sun, the rays would dot my face with brown pigmented circles
I used to absolutely hate my freckles
They covered my nose, my cheeks, my forehead, my arms and legs
I hated when people would compliment me on them because I didn't want that to be the only thing they noticed
After a long time of hating these brown specks scattered throughout my entire body
I finally looked at myself a little closer in the mirror
I noticed how they made my face pop and my arms look like a masterpiece
For the first time in my life I didn't see my freckles as an ugly connect-the-dots page
I saw my freckles as artwork
Unique paint droppings made by the sunlight
I no longer cared about the people who thought they made me look ugly
Because I started to think what if they're just jealous
Jealous that they have too much melanin so all they do is tan
Jealous that they cannot have this piece of artwork painted on their skin
Jealous that I have angel kisses and they don't
My mom still tells me to this day that my freckles are angel kisses
And I believe her.

you paint over your freckles
that you used to like
before everyone else decided
you didn't