White Lies

I liked this poem. It is probably one of the few poems I could easily read without being confused. It is about a little girl who tells white lies about almost everything. She can tell them quite easily without anyone knowing the difference. She was a black girl who had a light, white complexion and would lead people to believe she was something that she was not. I think she secretly wished the lies she was telling were true. She wanted to be able to live in a better neighborhood, in a nice house and have nice clothes. She even “kept quiet” when one little girl in her class assumed she was white too. However, whenever her mom found out she would always get in trouble. It says her mom would wash her mouth out with soap, “Ivory soap.” I thought it was interesting the author purposely included the color of the soap and made it ivory. In addition, having the mother say it would purify the girl and the girl believing her “swallowed the suds thinking they’d work from the inside out.” I thought this alluded to the girl wishing she were truly ivory like the soap. Although at the same time, I think it could mean she wished she could tell the truth and be proud of who she is. The beginning paragraph, I assumed the list of names were something she was called being that she was so light skinned. Probably the reason why she wished she were something that she was not. Even thought the poem was written in 2000, it felt like it was written in the forties. It had an old feel to it, as if it were written in completely different time and place.