Mon Guadalupe,

I left you with my patriotic

sash around my waist, tight

and thick as satin fabric,

that turns with every hip to thigh

extension.  I walk the runway,

out in open air.

The people wave flags:

green, orange and reds.

And like it’s carnival time,

steel drums bang their beats,

guitars straighten their strings,

I’m dancing

under this heat, like a mosquito

trying to sting human skin.

I taste the blood of success.

France,

I’m you today, able to suck

the blood out of living creatures.

I am a conqueror,

parading on stage,

smiling with grace and thankfulness,

colonizing one country after another

like Napoleon,

but taller with bronze skin.

I have the world’s golden crown

[1] Veronique De La Cruz was the first black woman to win the Miss France title and go on to the Miss Universe contest in 1993.