༺ Yarn ༻

a beach bar in Greece
a gang of bronzed
German body-builders
it was my round
and as I headed to the bar
their ring leader
cracked some joke about me
they looked up
at my pale scrawny body
and all roared with laughter

a classic moment
almost the proverbial
sand kicked in my face

but then I thought
of all the nationalities there
from all over the world
it wasn’t ok to laugh at their skin
my skin was from my ancestors
they were laughing at them
seized by an unexpected rage
I stared at their boss
his gang
one by one
noticed me glaring
and broke off laughing
to look down at the floor

at last their leader noticed
his gang not backing him up
his smile suddenly gone
I lifted my fists in victory
the whole bar erupted
in applause